New spin on ‘old’ style Chardonnay

Six winemakers in the Robertson Valley recently officially launched a region-defining wine category, called Calcrete, to distinguish the elegant, minerality driven style of their Chardonnay from others.

The initiative is the brainchild of Philip Jonker, fourthgeneration winemaker of Weltevrede in Bonnievale, who wanted to differentiate Chardonnay grown in the Robertson Valley, as Burgundy in France is doing with their Chardonnay that is sold as Chablis.

At the launch in Cape Town, Jonker said Calcrete was not a new Chardonnay style in the Robertson Valley, but rather the first time winemakers in the region decided to identify this style and market it together. “By working as a collective and using the Calcrete appellation, we’re creating a buying cue that allows consumers to know what to expect when they buy this wine.”

Jonker said that most South African Chardonnays mirrored the ambitions of the winemakers, which in many cases led to beautiful wines. The collective’s goal, however, was to reserve the Calcrete appellation for unwooded Chardonnays that reflect the Robertson Valley’s limestone-rich calcareous soils.

So far, Bon Courage, De Wetshof, Excelsior, Rietvallei, Van Loveren and Weltevrede have joined the collective, with Calcrete added to the labels of their participating wines.

Farmer’s Weekly had the opportunity to taste a Calcrete wine from each of the participating wineries at the launch. While each revealed their own personality, there was a thread that tied them all together: their beautiful luminant colour and well-balanced, mineral taste and flavour. The price of the wines range between R100 and R150.

GLENNEIS KRIEL Each Calcrete wine had its own personality, but they were joined together by their beautiful luminant colour, and wellbalanced, minerally taste and flavour.