Paul Cluver Chardonnay Estate Wine Elgin Valley White Wine Dry South Africa (6 x 0.75l)

• STORY: In search of cool locations in South Africa, one heads southeast from Cape Town through the Hottentos-Holland Mountains and then arrives at Elgin. Driving up the key-shaped highlands, the climate and vegetation change: it's cool. Actually, Elgin is known for apples and peaches.

• AGEING: After the harvest, the grapes remain in spontaneous fermentation in French oak barrels (10% new). Expansion "sur lie" for 9 months.

• AROMA: Acacia and pear mix with nuts and biscuits, honey, some vanilla and buttered toast join them.

• RATING: Acidity perfectly integrated on the palate, keeps the 'body in shape'. Dense, spicy, full. Very complex, clear minerality in the finish. A little Corton-Charlemagne.

• SERVING RECOMMENDATION: Fish dishes with beurre blanc, veal, poultry, risotto with truffle

People like Paul Cluver are rare. He is one of the architects of modern, democratic South Africa, the initiator of the BEE (Economic Empowerment of Blacks) in the wine sector and, above all, one of the most important innovators in Cape winegrowing in recent years - and as a career changer. When the trained neurosurgeon bottled his first wine in Elgin, 70 km southeast of Cape Town, in 1997, he was smiled at for the plan to grow wine here in the immediate vicinity of the cool Atlantic Ocean. But apparently he was the only one who recognized the potential that Elgin promised as a wine region, which was later declared a wine cultural heritage by UNESCO. He deliberately planted grape varieties on the De Rust farm that were appropriate to the climate. So it wasn't long before the critical voices fell silent and the finesse and elegant Cluver wines were on everyone's lips. In the past two decades, the region has experienced an enormous boom. Today Paul Cluver's son of the same name, reinforced by his wife Alexandra, forms the spearhead of a series of winemakers who succeed perfectly in expressing the uniqueness of Elgins in their wines. Paul Cluver Jr. raves about “Seven Flags”. proud: "A vineyard and cask selection that brings together in one wine everything our family believes in when it comes to winemaking. This wine is the ultimate expression of our terroir.” It brings together the estate's best and oldest Pinot Noir plots, which are tended with particular attention. The result is an outstanding wine with excellent balance between body, structure, tannins and acidity and a great mineral finish.