2022 Hamilton Russell Chardonnay Hemel-en-Aarde Valley
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Tasting notes
23% new French oak, 17% second-fill. Tech sheet says 13.2% alcohol – labelled at 13.5%. Tasted blind for Mission Blind Tasting series. Restrained yet tropical and peachy with tight, high acidity. Oak notes are cedary and obvious but pleasant – likely around 20% new. Super-citrusy and fresh on the palate. Called high-end Sonoma. Tell for next time: this is slightly higher acid and less oak than Sonoma. (SCJ)
Critic scores
Tim Atkin MW
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
Ever the class act, Hamilton Russell's Chardonnay is in a rich vein of form right now. Using only 5% malolactic because of the warmer year, this is fresh, layered and detailed, with perfumed 23% new wood, notes of brioche and lemon butter and a stylish, stony finish. Concentrated without being heavy in any way.
Opening to a nose of bright lemon and peach yogurt with hints of banana, the 2022 Chardonnay is fresh and citrus-laden. Medium-bodied and with 13.2% alcohol, the palate is fresh, balanced and spicy with succulent apple essence before swinging to show an elegant floral notion that finishes fresh and complex. This Chardonnay was barrel fermented and aged in 23% new French oak. Give it a try! Just under 70,000 bottles were filled.
Fermented 50% in 228-litre, 50% in 300-litre François Frères barrels. Aged nine months in 23% new barrels. Ambient yeast and their own, commercially available, Sauvage strain. More nose than most Hemel Chardonnays. Almost opulent! Rich start and then very fresh with some salinity and lots of impact on the palate. Lemon cream, with light chewiness but not aggressively so. (JR)