Tesselaarsdal 2020 Chardonnay

In my last Instagram post I wrote about the fantastic wine community on Instagram and how much they have inspired me over the last five years.  

One of my favourite Instagram accounts is Cape of Good Wine in South Africa. I so enjoy their warm, thoughtful and often humorous commentary. I find their wine descriptions enticing and I look forward to each and every one of their posts. Unfortunately, it is difficult to find their South African wine recommendations here in British Columbia, so when I saw that one of their recommendations was actually exported to Canada, I was all over it.

The wine in question was the 2020 Tesselaarsdal (Tess-uh-lars-dahl) Chardonnay, imported from South Africa by Trialto Wine Group and available for purchase in BC through Liberty Wine Merchants. 

Tesselaarsdal winery is owned by Berene Sauls who grew up in a small village called Tesselaarsdal. 

Tesselaarsdal used to be a farm called Hartebeesrivier and it was given to a Dutch East India Company Soldier named Johannes Tesselaar, in payment for his military service in 1781. Johannes died in 1810 and his wife, Aaltje, passed in 1832. In Johannes and Aaltje’s will their property was to be divided and left to nine of their former slaves. Hartebeesrivier was later named Tesselaarsdal, in memory of Johannes and Aaltje Tesselaar. Berene Sauls is a direct descendent of these freed slaves.

In February 2001, at the age of 19, Berene went to work for Hamilton Russell Vineyards as an au pair for Anthony Hamilton Russell’s four children. She worked in this position for one month before being moved into a more administrative role, assisting the marketing manager. Berene found herself immersed in a myriad of tasks which included fork lift driver, packer, logistics, picking grapes, assisting in the cellar, wine export and tasting room sales. With every task her interest in wine seemed to grow. She attended regular tastings in Stellenbosch and took courses at the Cape Wine Academy. Motivation and hard work kept her moving-up the chain at Hamilton Russell Vineyards, until one day Anthony Hamilton Russell approached Berene. He acknowledged that there was not much more room for her to grow at the winery and he suggested that she make a barrel of wine with Emul Ross, their winemaker.

Berene and Emul acquired Pinot Noir from Babylon Vineyards, an unirrigated vineyard in Hemel-en-Aarde, and together they made a wine which was released in 2015. At first the wine was promoted under the table at wine shows, which garnered limited interest. Then in 2016 Anthony Hamilton Russell offered the wine during a tasting at his home for the Hemel-en-Aarde Pinot Noir celebration. Greg Sherwood, Master of Wine, was one of the people who tasted the wine and he called it ‘the next South African Pinot Noir Icon.’ The wine immediately took off and all 200 cases quickly sold out. Berene has been making wines ever since.

Berene named her winery Tesselaarsdal to honour her family’s history. In 2019, using the profits from her wine, Berene purchased 16 hectares of land in Tesselaarsdal. The land has been planted with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Until these vines are ready, Berene continues to purchase grapes from Babylon Vineyards.

Berene hopes her winery will play a role in the economic revival of the area she grew up in. She wants to invest in the people there and give someone else the opportunities that she was given. Berene is also hopeful that her two sons will take an interest in the winery and that Tesselaarsdal will become a family legacy.

2020 Tesselaarsdal Chardonnay $67.00

This wine is made from 100% Chardonnay sourced from the unirrigated La Vierge Vineyards in Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge; the vines produce 6 tons per hectare. The wine was aged for 6 months, 58% in old, 228 litre French oak barrels, 24% in amphorae and 18% in stainless steel. 50% of the wine underwent malolactic fermentation in 5^th fill oak. 574 cases were produced.

The nose is bright and fresh with aromas of lemon curd, peach, green, starchy apples, meringue, hints of baking spice, buttered graham crackers and yogurt. This is a dry, medium bodied wine with high acidity. The palate is juicy and offers flavours of lemon meringue pie, pineapple, buttered graham crackers and yellow grapefruit pith which leads to a salty, mouth-watering medium+ finish. 

I recommend pairing a glass of this beautiful Chardonnay with Simply Red’s Holding Back the Years.

Floral Support

The beautiful blooms for this shoot were provided by Floral Support. Floral Support is a women-owned flower wholesaler located in Langley, British Columbia. Not only do they provide a gorgeous selection of locally grown flowers to the public, but they also offer flower subscriptions which make a great gift for yourself, or someone you love (hint: Mother’s Day is just around the corner). Just think, a subscription of fresh, local flowers delivered right to your door every month.

There are several subscription options available. Each includes everything you need to create multiple flower arrangements. Just choose your colour palette (I chose the ‘soft’ palette for this shoot) and a selection of local flowers and greenery will be assembled, ready for you to start arranging.

Floral Support currently delivers to Langley, Surrey, Aldergrove and Abbotsford.

References

Coloured South Africa. An Introduction to Berene Sauls, Winemaker of Choice. Retrieved from: https://www.colouredsa.co.za/profiles/an-introduction-to-berene-sauls-winemaker-of-choice

The Femme Vine. Behind the Vine: Berene Sauls – Tesselaarsdal-Hemel-en-Aarde, South Africa. Retrieved from: https://www.thefemmevine.com/berene-sauls

Wines of South Africa. SA Wines Trailblazers: Berene Sauls of Tesselaarsdal Wines. Retrieved from: https://www.wosa.co.za/WOSA-News/Blogs/Cape-Chatter/Berene-Sauls-wine-trailblazers/

Wikipedia. Tesselaarsdal. Retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesselaarsdal