I spend a lot of time pontificating about Chenin and not nearly enough time on my favorite South African Chardonnay's.
The Ava Marie is definitely in my top three... perhaps even THE number one South African Chardonnay in my book.
This wine has a gorgeous lemon custard creaminess on the nose with hints of lightly toasted coconut and a bit of salinity. There is a tinge of orange marmalade that lingers on the midpalate, and its extremely well balanced with medium+ acidity and medium alcohol (13%abv).
Some seriously good juice! Worth every penny... if only I had the budget to consider it a daily drinker!
According to Wine Menu, "Anne and Craig Wessels do nine pickings through the vineyard and whole bunch pressing. Natural fermentation takes place in various-sized oak barrels over 55 days. Only one new barrel was used, resulting in about 5% in total. The wine spent a further 11 months sur lie before light fining and settling in tank for a further two months before bottling. It spent two years resting in the bottle before release."
As with so many of my favorite wines, the first time I tasted the Ava Marie was at the incomparable Noble Vice Festival in 2019... which seems like a lifetime ago, but hopefully, we will get back to it later this year!
To purchase this wine check out Ex Animo.