Elgin, South Africa

An unctuous fruit driven richness on the nose- citrus blossom, peach puree, meadowsweet and baked oats, offset by a restrained and rocky palate. Crushed chalk, rock salt, and freshly dried hay. Broad and mouth filling with a lingering finish. A wine of catwalk model like poise - a hallmark of this beautiful Chardonnay each vintage.

Picked on taste, not on numbers, Martin presses the grapes extremely slowly - for up around 7 hours, keeping the pressure really low for the most gentle extraction. A long fermentation (over a month for primary, over a year for malolactic) in barrel, with 30% new French barrels used. 16 months maturation in barrel and a further year prior to release.

Paserene is a joint venture between winemaker Martin Smith and businessman Ndabe Mareda, their goal is to produce fine wines that are truly authentic to the place and people that made them. They call both Franschhoek and Tulbagh home, with a beautiful tasting room and some vineyards in the much loved foodie town of Franschhoek, and a recently purchased farm in the lesser known region of Tulbagh. It is here where self confessed Cabernet junkie Martin sees the greatest potential for the grape in the Cape, and where they are planting for the future.

The name derives from the Latin Passeriformes, the type of bird that includes swifts, swallows and martins; all birds that follow the epic migration from Europe to South Africa, representing the often travelled route by young winemakers gaining experience abroad before returning to their home country.