Nadia Newton Johnson’s maiden release is a culmination of her love affair with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. With decades of experience, and having called Hemel-en-Aarde home since 2006, it was time to express herself.

This 1.39-hectare vineyard lies in the Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, just 7 km from the ocean at an elevation of 280 m above sea level. The vines, planted in 2004 and now 19 years old (in 2023), are established on a south-facing slope with a 12% gradient, oriented north-south at a density of 2 857 vines per hectare. The vineyard is planted to Chardonnay clone CY95 on 101-14 rootstock, with supplemental drip irrigation used only when necessary. The soils are derived from granite bedrock-formed around 580 million years ago-rich in quartz, mica, and feldspar, with heavier clay layers between 30 and 60 cm deep that provide a valuable reservoir of water and nutrients during dry summer periods. Average yields, are modest at 33 hl/ha, contributing to the site s concentration and balance.

Our philosophy is very simple, we gently guide the fruit from vineyard to bottle and try to keep our influence as minimal as possible.

Our grapes are all hand harvested into small, (12.5kg) crates and brought to the winery to be stored in a cooling room overnight at four degrees centigrade. The fruit is then hand sorted, and the whole bunches fed by gravity directly into the pneumatic press. No additions are made to the grape bunches or juice. The juice is transferred straight to barrel, by gravity only, and without settling.

Spontaneous fermentation, from ambient yeasts follows.

After alcoholic fermentation the wine is allowed to complete its malolactic fermentation. Elevage follows for

10 – 11 months on the lees in barrel. In January, we rack and blend into a single stainless steel vessel by gas displacement for another 4 months of elevage on the fine lees. No fining whatsoever and a very coarse filtration before bottling in May. A further 16 months of ageing in bottle is allowed before release.