Jack & Knox
Frostline Chardonnay 2004

This wine is from a very special vineyard that is over 1000m above sea level in the spectacular Swartberg mountains about 700km drive east of Cape Town - one of the most easterly vineyards in South Africa. To access the vineyards you can drive up the Meiringspoort Pass or up the Swartberg Mountain Pass. The latter is my preferred route. It was built between 1883 and 1886 by our most famous engineer, Thomas Bain. It is visually addictive - so beautifully improbable, like the winding road up to a Princess's cloud-veiled castle.

Frost is a constant threat during the growing season because of the plummeting temperatures at night, but of course this also means there is the reward of intense flavours, high natural acidity and more balanced, quicker phenolic ripening).

Four or five times a summer the frost alarm rings (usually at 3am) and fires are lit in the vineyards to counteract the frost. The farmer, Guillaume Swiegers, also breeds and raises ostriches, but has to sell them before they are 6 months old because they get stunted by the cold nights and don't grow taller than a metre.

It is a good 11 hour round trip by car to get there and back, so I sometimes fly up to the vineyards during crush. The problem with this rather romantic image is George Airport, which doesn't have the sophisticated radar systems needed for landing in heavy fog - the same omnipresent coastal fog that claims aeroplanes all the time. The last high profile crash killed our favourite cricket scoundrel, Hansie "the devil made me do it" Cronje. On more than one occasion this year we had to circle for an hour above George until the ground temperature warmed to over 18 degrees C and the fog lifted enough for the pilot to fly into the white frothy soup and attempt to spot the runway before hitting it.

This is not only a labour of love, but a nifty way to conquer any fear of flying. Hey, when the grapes are calling, you have to follow...

The Jack & Knox Winecraft label is a joint venture between Flagstone and Graham Knox – winewriter, wine marketer and extreme vineyard trophy hunter.


Vinification
This Chardonnay comes from broken shale vineyards 1200m above sea level. All berries were hand picked, sorted manually and whole bunch pressed to barrel.
Fermentation took place in Oak Barrels – 30% new American Oak, 30% 2nd fill French and American and the remainder older. We allowed roughly half of the barrels to undergo wild ferment. Barrels were stirred once a week for extended lees contact. The Wine spent 6 months in barrel.


Tasting notes
Buttery popcorn and lime/citrus notes on the nose, which follows through on to the palate. Clean, crisp finish that lingers.

 

Analysis:
Alc: 13.01%
RS: 1.2
TA: 6.6
pH: 3.34