Groot Constantia Chardonnay 2021

Groot Constantia, located a few kilometres from Cape Town, is the oldest wine estate in South Africa. In 2021 it celebrated its 336th anniversary! Here we have a Chardonnay that regularly wins multiple awards around the globe and was named "best Chardonnay in the world" in 2013. The vines are trained on vertical trellises, and vineyard work such as pruning, canopy management and harvesting is done by hand. Pest control is organic, and soil health and weed control are managed naturally. The grapes are hand-picked and whole-bunch pressed. Fermentation and ageing last 10 months and take place in first-, second- and third-fill French oak barriques. On the palate, this cuvée shows great aromatic richness with notes of candied lemon, yellow peach, pear, apricot, toasted almonds, vanilla, fresh butter, and toast, with a hint of orange blossom. It is a creamy wine with a fine structure balanced by saline notes and linear acidity. The finish is long and indulgent. A superb Chardonnay!


The Chardonnay du Monde ® competition is an international wine competition held every year since 1993, focusing specifically on Chardonnay wines. 35 countries take part in this international competition, and 700 of the world's best Chardonnays compete for the coveted titles. A panel of 300 international expert judges assesses the entries according to rigorous judging criteria over a three-day period. Only around 50 bottles win a gold medal, and just one cuvée receives the title of best Chardonnay in the world. Groot Constantia Chardonnay won a gold medal in 2017 and 2018 and was named best Chardonnay in the world in 2013.

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.