Platter’s by Diners Club South African Wine Guide is the definitive guide to South African wines with more than 8,000 wines from over 900 producers reviewed annually. The top wines are then scrutinised in a blind tasting by an expert panel of judges to find the best in the country. Môreson Mercator Premium Chardonnay 2014 took home five-stars, and is officially recognised as one of the very best Chardonnays in South Africa.
*Winemaker Clayton Reabow and GM Nikki Friedman were all smiles!
At the annual awards Môreson received its first five-star rating from the prestigious industry bible for their estate grown Chardonnay as well as receiving a total of eight nominations for five-star wines as a whole.
The accolade is made even more meaningful to Môreson’s winemaking team as Chardonnay is the varietal this family-run Franschhoek farm hangs its hat on.
GM of Môreson Nikki Friedman says: “We started producing this wine because my dad loves a good, wooded chardonnay.
“To see where it’s gone over the last 20 years is unbelievable. What's also so important is that every part of the wine has been touched by our farm. Every single person who works on Môreson, no matter their role, has contributed to the wine.”
Winemaker Clayton Reabow comments: “I’m privileged to work with a team of people who have a collective vision towards growing, producing and packaging world-class wine. Together we have adopted a no compromise policy on our wines starting with our Chardonnay vineyards and growing this into the rest of our portfolio. It has taken us years to breed a collective mind-set of producing Chardonnay with soul and integrity.
“The award justifies the decision made 10 years ago to focus exclusively on growing Chardonnay vineyards on Môreson. All our existing Sauvignon blanc and Chenin blanc vineyards were uprooted and replaced with various Chardonnay clones that were selected based on their suitability to the different soil types on the farm. Today we grow 13 different clones spread across 21 separate vineyard blocks. We are thrilled to be recognised as one of the top Chardonnay producers for 2017.
“Although we consider our vineyard practices sustainable, our future target is to convert all our vineyards over to organic farming principles. We have already started with 10 per cent of our vineyard surface and will slowly convert the rest over time. The key motivation is to protect our soils and ensure that they have sufficient microbial life within them. This in turn will also produce better wines. We are very excited at this prospect.”
With vision like this, the future for Môreson Wine Estate looks as golden as their five-star rated Mercator Premium Chardonnay.