Iona, Fynbos Single Vineyard Chardonnay, Elgin, South Africa, 2023

Producer Profile

At 420m above sea level, set high above the picturesque Elgin Valley overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, Andrew Gunn founded Iona among some of the coolest vineyards in the Cape.

In a country where cool-climate vineyards are like gold dust, these vineyards are veritable nuggets. The growing season is extremely long, harvesting up to 2 months after Stellenbosch, which allows Andrew to create wines with complex flavours and a fresh, elegant style. The viticultural approach is emphatically hands-off: the land is farmed according to organic and biodynamic principles, with particular focus on ensuring the health of the soil, and pests are kept under control by the resident flock of geese that roam the vineyards.

Viticulture

The Fynbos vineyard has well drained soils that are rich in clay with north facing slopes result in a rich, gorgeous, fleshy, generous wine.The grapes were selected form a single north-facing vineyard on the eastern side of the farm with a north-south row direction. Vines were planted in 2003 on predominantly decomposed sandstone with underlying clay.

Winemaking

Grapes were hand-picked and spent overnight in a cold room before being whole bunch pressed. No settling enzymes were used, resulting in juice containing more solids. This wine was 100% wild fermented in a selection of 228L and 300L French oak barrels (20% new, the rest in 2nd, 3rd and 4th fill barrels). The wine remained on the lees for a total of 12 months with 20% malolactic fermentation and no battonage. Thereafter, the wines were racked and blended. The wine was fined and stabilised naturally for a period of 3 months before bottling.

Tasting Note

The wine is perfumed and mineral notes of soft pear, stone fruit and bright citrus. This is a sumptuous wine whose fruit profile has both depth and breadth, as great structure that allows for significant ageing potential.

Food Matching

Chicken, ham or cheese-based salads such as caesar salad or chicken salads.