Thelema Chardonnay 2023

The grapes are de-stemmed, crushed and pressed to stainless steel tanks for cold settling overnight. The clarified juice is then racked to a holding tank where we inoculate with a selected yeast strain & nutrients, homogenise the tank, take the juice down to barrel for fermentation. After fermentation the wine is topped and left on the lees with regular lees stirring for 10 months. Only partial malolactic fermentation was allowed to occur in order to retain the natural acidity and balance in the wine. The barrels were all French oak 228 litre barrels of which 30% were new the rest were older barrels. The wine was bottled in December 2022.

Wet, cool climate conditions allowed replenishment of water reserves and slow ripening period. Despite the smaller yields, the harvest season produced outstanding quality berries resulting in great wines with respectable aging potential. The flavours and fruit concentration are particularly evident, as the red cultivars achieved ultimate alcohol and sugar levels.

10 months in French oak barrels, 35% new, and the balance in 3rd/4th fill

100% Chardonnay

Full flavoured dishes such as lobster, tuna, chicken and pork.

Gyles Webb abandoned his accounting career in Durban to become a winemaker. In 1983, with the help of his wife’s family, the McLean’s, Gyles bought Thelema. The beginning of a family legacy. The manor house was restored and the first wines under the Thelema label were released in 1988. By the mid 90’s Thelema’s wines sold out within a month after release, making it one of the most sought-after wine estates in South Africa. The Webb family describe Thelema as “one of the most beautiful places on earth”. As Thelema in Stellenbosch continued to flourish, Gyles embarked on a search for an additional property in order to establish a second vineyard. In 2002, the Webb family purchased an idyllic farm with an undulating landscape, in the cool Elgin region, creating ideal grape growing conditions.