Chardonnay, Banghoek, Delaire Graff Estate 2024
Tim Atkin MW 93 (2024); James Suckling 93; Wine Spectator 93; Adrian van Velsen 92; Decanter World Wine Awards 97 points, Best in Show Chardonnay Trophy (2024)
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Why this wine
A serious Stellenbosch Chardonnay built for tension rather than weight: barrel-fermented for texture, then held back from malolactic fermentation so the acidity stays intact. The mountain terraces above the Banghoek Valley ripen slowly under Atlantic breezes, and it shows in the length. It is the benchmark Cape white in the range.
At a glance
- Grape
- Chardonnay
- Region
- Stellenbosch, South Africa
- Alcohol
- 13.50%
- Body
- Medium
- Acidity
- High
- Sweetness
- Dry
- Drink
- Medium (5-10 yrs)
- Pairs with
- Seafood, Poultry & Pork, Cheese
How it tastes
Vanilla and honeycomb sit over ripe peach, with a thread of minerality running through a long finish. Barrel fermentation gives it weight without softening it: no bâtonnage and no malolactic fermentation were allowed, so the acidity stays bright and the shape stays narrow. Chardonnay 100%.
The producer
Delaire Graff Estate sits high on the Helshoogte Pass in the historic Banghoek Valley of Stellenbosch, on a farm called Avontuur until the wine writer John Platter bought it in 1982 and renamed it Delaire, 'From the Sky', for the views; Laurence Graff OBE acquired it in 2003 and rebuilt it over six years. The fruit for this Chardonnay comes from the estate's own mountain vineyards, vines averaging fourteen years old and trellised on a five-wire Perold system against the wind, on granite-derived Hutton leaf soils that hold water well, cooled by Atlantic sea breezes and farmed sustainably under IPW certification. Picked by hand in the early hours over several passes, the grapes were bunch-sorted, whole-bunch pressed and barrel fermented over fourteen days, then matured ten months in 225-litre French barrels, 40% of them new, with no bâtonnage and no malolactic fermentation, to keep the freshness. 2024 opened uncharacteristically cold and wet, which gave the vines a good dormancy, before an early warm January pulled ripening forward and left the whites unusually aromatic with natural balancing acidity.
Food and drinking
Serve at 10–12°C. It suits roast chicken, grilled lemon sole, a mushroom risotto or a mild washed-rind cheese. Drink now or over the next five to ten years; no decanting needed. Sealed with a screwcap. Suitable for vegetarians and vegans.