Bachelder Les Villages' Chardonnay 2019
Thomas Bachelder is known by many as the first winemaker at Le Clos Jordanne. However, since 2009 Thomas and his wife, Mary Delaney, have been producing their own high-quality, cool-climate Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in three regions: Burgundy, Niagara and Oregon.
Years of making Chardonnay, in hallowed areas such as Meursault and Corton-Charlemagne, have taught Thomas to be as low intervention as possible. Using the same winemaking techniques in each region (wild yeasts, minimal intervention and the same barrel makers), the difference in the wines is solely down to the vineyard, which makes for some very interesting blind tasting results.
Order Bachelder Les Villages' Chardonnay 2019 from Sweeney's D3 today!
A madcap blend of Grenache, Cinsault, Pinot Noir and Pinotage, with 16% white grape varieties blended in too. Very juicy, very drinkable! Serve chilled - lots of strawberry juice, cherry and earthy notes too, blackcurrant leaf and pomegranate. It's a fun little wine to not be taken too seriously.
Every one of Pieter’s wines is a story, rather than a grape variety, and it’s the juice inside the bottle which reveals that story. He doesn’t own any vines, but instead scours South Africa’s winelands for top-quality fruit that has somehow slipped under the radar, now sourcing from nearly 70 sites. Some years he’ll make 20 wines, other years 35. With the benefit of anonymity, variety and regional identity take a back seat while parcel expression does the driving. These are some of South Africa’s most original wines, made by one of South Africa’s most original winemakers