Chardonnay Clay Shales, Crystallum 2025

One of my go-to Chardonnays in South Africa - it’s well worth cellaring, too - this comes from a vineyard on the Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge that was grafted on to Cabernet Franc in 2014.Textured, layered and effortlessly complex, it wouldn’t look out of place in a line-up Premier Cru Burgundies, with very subtle 20% new oak, layers of gunflint, beeswax, lemon zest and clementine and top notes of wildflowers and aromatic baking spices. 2027-33.

Full bottle 1,300 g. Wax overcap. Crystallum was established in 2007 by brothers Peter-Allan and Andrew Finlayson. The clay-shale vineyard sits at 300 m in the mountains behind the town of Hermanus in the Walker Bay region. Elevation and cooling sea breezes slow down the grape-ripening process. Whole-bunch pressing, settled, racked into 2,600-litre casks. Spontaneous fermentation. Aged on lees for 10 months, bottled by hand, without filtration. TA 6.1 g/l, pH 3.36. Vegan.

Fragrant with grapefruit and crushed stones and just a hint of something sweeter, like melon. Tightly wound. The casks are too big to give any oak aroma or flavour but I guess they will have rounded the wine a little. The minerally crushed-stone impression gets more intense as the wine warms in the glass but so does the fruit – piercingly pure and fresh even though the pH is not that low. As it continues to open, there’s a hint of wild scrubland – not quite herbal but definitely suggesting something in the landscape. Bone dry, almost chalky on the finish, seriously mouth-watering. You could drink it now but I would give it a little longer in the bottle given the way it improves in the glass. Drink 2027-2033.

Elegantly ripe orchard-fruit aromas, with some creaminess and an edge of spiced white almonds. Energetic, fine and very tense on the palate but with real concentration of flavour, too. A sprinkling of spice and bright, lingering acidity lifting the long finish. Salty-stony character underpins the palate. Still so young. 2026-2033.