Cuvée Anais 2023

The Anaïs cuvée was created in honor of Sabrina and Christophe's daughter. Domaine Dorrance practices a low-intervention vinification method using indigenous yeasts and no filtration, in order to allow the terroir and grape varieties to express themselves to the maximum. The Chardonnay grapes are harvested by hand, from 27-year-old vines planted on limestone soils. Fermentation takes place in 3rd-use French oak barrels. The wine will then be aged for 12 months in these same barrels, which gives it suppleness and smoothness (without overly "wooding" the wine) while allowing the fruity notes of the grape variety to flourish. This straw-yellow South African Chardonnay offers a beautiful palate, with aromas of lemon , white peach , honey , candied orange peel, fresh butter , quince , honeysuckle and hazelnut . The wine is generous and round but without heaviness and the acidity holds the richness of the fruit well.

The first vines were planted in South Africa by Dutch settlers in the 1650s, although wine production did not really begin to take off until the arrival of French Protestants, in the 1680s, with their skills and their knowledge of viticulture. Stellenbosch is also a historic wine region, with the first vineyards being planted there in the 1690s. Today South Africa is one of the most important wine producing countries in the southern hemisphere. With over 300 years of winemaking history, it is often described as a bridge between the Old and New Worlds. The majority of wines are produced using New World winemaking techniques, but they often have more in common stylistically with their Old World counterparts. Since the end of apartheid, South African wine has received international attention and acclaim for its wide variety of styles. South Africa's wine industry is spread across the lush and rugged landscape of the Western Cape. Here, the abundance of mountains, valleys and plateaus allows winemakers to produce a wide variety of styles. Vineyards can also be found in the Orange River region of the Northern Cape, where the flat, arid landscape is dominated by the Kalahari Desert. Most of South Africa's wine regions have a Mediterranean climate, strongly influenced by the meeting of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. The country's signature grape variety is Pinotage, an indigenous cross of Pinot Noir and Cinsaut that is rarely found in quantity in other wine-producing countries. Shiraz (Syrah) is also widely planted, as are Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot (often combined in a Bordeaux blend). South African Chardonnay, Chenin and Sauvignon Blanc have become popular internationally in recent years.