Bouchard Finlayson, Missionvale Chardonnay, Hemel-en-Aarde, Walker Bay, South Africa 2018

Ripe and buttery aromas are complemented by peach and grapefruit flavours. Toasty, smoky and cream cheesy, this is rich and inviting, intensely spicy and texural, leaving a slight grip on the teeth. Certainly a wine for food, like scallops or barbecued salmon. This is young but vibrant. 2018 was quite a dry vintage, but the intermittent showers led to a successful harvest. Grapes were hand-harvested, gently pressed and the juice transferred to French oak to undergo fermentation, a third of which was new. 10% of the wine was fermented in terracotta amphora, which arguably lends a textural, full sensation in the mouth.