Technical Analysis
Rustenberg is a well-known producer of high quality Chardonnays; the Stellenbosch Chardonnay embodies their house style.
Tasting note
Apricot, coconut and orange peel aromas followed by flavours of marzipan, sponge cake and citrus rounded off with carefully judged oak and balanced, fresh acidity.
Magnums available - enquire for vintage
Vintage conditions
The Winter of 2024 arrived later than usual, with the record rainfall and cold temperatures experienced in July allowing for the vineyards to transition into dormancy. This later than usual onset of dormancy resulted in late budding for many grape varieties. Budding and berry set were even, and the cooler, moderate and dry growing season set the scene for the vintage. There was a brief heat spike at the end of December, however, January was cool and dry with big day/night temperature changes, resulting in excellent acidity and freshness being a hallmark of the vintage. February and March were near perfect for ripening, being warm and dry with little disease pressure and no heat wave conditions to stress the vineyards at this crucial time. The result of these conditions was a remarkable, cellar-worthy vintage. The reds are some of the best seen since 2015 with excellent concentration, depth of colour and structure. The whites have wonderful flavour development, fruit intensity and freshness.
Vinification details
The grapes were hand picked in February. Once back at the winery, they were whole bunch pressed before fermentation in 300L oak barrels using wild yeasts. The wine was aged on its lees for 10 months in 25% new French oak barrels, with the remainder 2nd, 3rd and 4th fill for 8 months
AWARDS
Tim Atkin MW: 91 pts
DWWA & IWC: Silver
Technical Analysis
Rustenberg is a well-known producer of high quality Chardonnays; the Stellenbosch Chardonnay embodies their house style.
Tasting note
Apricot, coconut and orange peel aromas followed by flavours of marzipan, sponge cake and citrus rounded off with carefully judged oak and balanced, fresh acidity.
Magnums available - enquire for vintage
Vintage conditions
The Winter of 2023 was cold and wet, as was the season’s Spring, leading to the late budding of many varieties. While the excellent ground water availability was welcome, the early growing conditions were challenging due to the influence of rain. The resultant humidity, and at other times high winds, ultimately resulted in lower cropping levels. As Summer progressed, the influence of the El Nino weather phenomenon brought ideal warm, dry ripening conditions, as well as an early start and end to the vintage, a relief from the past few wetter harvests. The overall quality of the wines produced across the board in 2024 was superb. The white wines of this vintage have excellent acidity, thanks to the cool start to the season and express fully ripe fruit, a benefit of the warmer second half of Summer in the lead up to and during the harvest season.
Vinification details
The grapes were hand picked in February. Once back at the winery, they were whole bunch pressed before fermentation in 300L oak barrels using wild yeasts. The wine was aged on its lees for 8 months in 25% new French oak barrels, with the remainder 2nd, 3rd and 4th fill.
AWARDS
Tim Atkin MW: 92 pts
IWC: Silver 91 pts
Technical Analysis
Rustenberg is a well-known producer of high quality Chardonnays; the Stellenbosch Chardonnay embodies their house style.
Tasting note
Apricot, coconut and orange peel followed by marzipan, sponge cake, rounded off with carefully judged oak and fresh, acidity
Magnums available - enquire for vintage
Vintage conditions
The 2023 vintage marked another vintage influenced by the La Niña weather phenomenon. The Autumn of 2022 was dry with below average and variable rainfall throughout the Winter. Spring too was dry, but cool, however, a massive cold front in December brought much needed rain, but increased disease pressure. This lead up to harvest set the scene for a challenging vintage and lower crop sizes. The early heatwaves experienced in January, as opposed to usually occurring in February, brought the white cultivars into line with their average picking dates and all of the white grapes were picked before the unseasonal rains experienced in late February and March. The cooler growing season and lower crops resulted in good acidity and concentration to the wines, while the warm lead up to harvest has given white wines from this vintage a burst of ripe fruit. All things considered, it was another good white wine vintage despite the challenging growing season.
Vinification details
The grapes were hand picked in February. Once back at the winery, they were whole bunch pressed before fermentation in 300L oak barrels using wild yeasts. The wine was aged on its lees for 8 months in 20% new French oak barrels, with the remainder 2nd, 3rd and 4th fill.
AWARDS
DWWA: Silver
IWC: Silver
IWSC: Silver
Vinous: 90 pts
Platter: 92 pts
James Suckling: 92 pts
Technical Analysis
Rustenberg is a well-known producer of high quality Chardonnays; the Stellenbosch Chardonnay embodies their house style.
Tasting note
Apricot, coconut and orange peel aromas followed by flavours of marzipan, sponge cake and citrus rounded off with carefully judged oak and balanced, fresh acidity.
Magnums available - enquire for vintage
Vintage conditions
The winter of 2021 was very cold and wet following a warm autumn. Bud burst was late and the cold, wet weather continued into Spring, requiring careful disease and canopy management. The cool, wet weather extended until the middle of December. These cold conditions meant that the white varietals had very healthy acid levels going into the harvest, while the abundance of water increased yields. From the middle of December onwards the weather warmed up considerably with three heatwaves being experienced in January and one in February. This warm weather helped to ripen the fruit fully and we picked slightly later than average. 2022, like 2021, is an excellent white wine vintage. It has the freshness of the cool growing season combined with the fruit expression of a warm end to the vintage and moderate alcohols thanks to the higher yields. The marathon vintage ended in late April and was the biggest and longest vintage in Rustenberg’s history
Vinification details
The grapes were hand picked in February. Once back at the winery, they were whole bunch pressed before fermentation in 300L oak barrels using wild yeasts. The wine was aged on its lees for 8 months in 25% new French oak barrels, with the remainder 2nd, 3rd and 4th fill.
AWARDS
DWWA: Silver
IWC: Silver
IWSC: Gold
Tim Atkin MW: 90 pts
Platter: 91 pts
Technical Analysis
Rustenberg is a well-known producer of high quality Chardonnays; the Stellenbosch Chardonnay embodies their house style.
Tasting note
Apricot, coconut and orange peel aromas followed by flavours of marzipan, sponge cake and citrus rounded off with carefully judged oak and balanced, fresh acidity.
(Magnums available)
Vintage conditions
The 2021 vintage was produced with the challenges of COVID-19 ever present. The winter of 2020 started late after a warm autumn and was cold with plenty of rain. The cool and wet conditions extended well into spring, through summer and much of the harvest season. The result of these conditions was slow, steady, stress free vineyard growth and fruit development. White grape yields were lower than average due to the impact of the weather during critical stages in fruit development. The white wines from the vintage ripened two weeks later than in 2020 and achieved full ripeness at lower sugar levels; producing wines with lower alcohols, excellent acidity and brilliant flavour development.
Vinification details
The grapes were hand picked in February. Once back at the winery, they were whole bunch pressed before fermentation in 300L oak barrels using wild yeasts. The wine was aged on its lees for 8 months in 25% new French oak barrels, with the remainder 2nd, 3rd and 4th fill.
AWARDS
DWWA & IWSC: Silver
Wine Spectator: 90 pts
Tim Atkin MW: 90 pts
Platter: 94 pts
Technical Analysis
Rustenberg is a well-known producer of high quality Chardonnays; the Stellenbosch Chardonnay embodies their house style.
Tasting note
Apricot, coconut and orange peel aromas followed by flavours of marzipan, sponge cake and citrus rounded off with carefully-judged oak and balanced, fresh acidity.
Vintage conditions
The 2020 vintage will be remembered as a good vintage produced under the spectre of the COVID-19 pandemic impacting the globe. Fortunately the harvest was not impacted on Rustenberg by the government-sanctioned lockdowns, allowing all fruit to be picked and processed when ripe. A good winter in 2019 saw a return to average rainfall for the year. Two unusual weather events in the growing season – a large rainstorm and a heat wave – impacted some varietals flowering and berry set, however in the context of the entire vintage these had a minor impact. Crop levels were up by 15% from the 2019 vintage, which saw a return to yields being average to slightly above average for most varietals.
Vinification details
The grapes were hand picked in January. Once back at the winery, they were whole bunch pressed before fermentation in 300L oak barrels using wild yeasts. The wine was aged on its lees for 8 months in 25% new French oak barrels, with the remainder 2nd, 3rd and 4th fill.
