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La Brune

2025

‘The Valley’ Chardonnay

Elgin - South Africa
Shelf Talker Spec Sheet Wine Label Bottle Image

About

Nico’s ‘The Valley’ Chardonnay is made with four Burgundian clones for a variety of textures and flavor profiles (CY95, 96, 277 and 548). Clones 95 and 548 are more known for their fruitier and rounder profiles which are ‘tamed’ by 96 and 277, two clones that tend to add more freshness and nervous energy. Nico has always had a soft spot for Chardonnay after spending a significant amount of time in Burgundy working with Bruno Lorenzon of Domaine Lorenzon in Mercurey. ‘The Valley’ Chardonnay is some of the finest value you can find for this variety in South Africa – or elsewhere for that matter.  The 2025 vintage was dry, but also the coolest vintage in a decade shows more ‘Elgin Chablis-ness’ than any other vintage.

The grapes were hand harvested and whole-bunch pressed to a mix of 500L Burgundian oak barrels (5% new and 95% 2nd-5th fill) and concrete eggs. Fermentation occurred without any additions and the wine sat on the gross less in the fermentation vessels for five months prior to being racked to tank where the wine settled naturally without fining.  The wine was bottled with a soft bulk filtration and small sulfur addition.

Stats

  • Grapes: 100% Chardonnay
  • Vineyard: Multiple vineyards in the Elgin Valley
  • Vine Age: 11+-years-old
  • Soil Type: Shale and Table Mountain sandstone
  • Viticulture: Conventional
  • Fermentation: Native – 60% in 500L Burgundian demi-muid (5% new) & 40% in concrete egg
  • Aging: 5 months in fermentation vessels
  • Alcohol: 13%
  • pH: 3.39
  • Total Acidity: 6.1 g/L
  • Total SO2: 99 ppm
  • Total Production: 1,666 cases
  • UPC: 0781718495714
  • SRP: $24.99

Tasting Note

Pale yellow.  Taut and unapologetic on the nose — the coolest year Elgin’s seen in a decade, and you can feel the energy in the wine’s spine before you even taste it – Chablis-like. This is Chardonnay stripped to its wiring: no malo softening the edges, nothing to blur the line between fruit and stone.  The nose opens bright and orchard-fresh — blossom, citrus, apple — but it’s the palate where the vintage really speaks: lemon zest and grapefruit pulled taut, pithy and precise, running along a seam of minerality that feels less like a flavor and more like a current running underneath everything. Tight, linear, refreshing in that way that makes your mouth water rather than relax.  This is Chardonnay built for length and focus and represents unparalleled value.

Press & Reviews

The WineMag

92

"Eight blocks. Matured for four months, 60% old oak and 40% concrete eggs. Enticing aromatics of orchard blossom, citrus and apple. Pure, bright and pithy – precise with lots of refreshment and good length. Alc: 13.5%."

- Christian Eedes

Tim Atkin, MW

93

"Making wine in Elgin is a bit like living in Europe, says Nico Grobler, who makes the most of the cooler conditions. This well-judged Chardonnay comes from nine different sites on ferricrete, shale and sandstone soils. Eschewing any malolactic, it has layers of lemon zest and grapefruit, a hint of toast and a sappy, refreshing finish. 2026-30"

- Tim Atkin, MW
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Producer


La Brune

Region


Elgin

Country


South Africa

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