A Taste of Luxury

Owned and run by Craig and Anne Wessels, Restless River wines are hand crafted on their farm in the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, next door to the coastal village of Hermanus in the Western Cape. With vines planted in 1998, Restless River Vineyards has some of the oldest Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay in the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley. The soils are extremely diverse, resulting in each small block being unique and the valley itself well renowned for its cooler climate where it sits 5km from the Atlantic Ocean offering cooling influences and combined with the vineyards at 250m, the temperature is a further couple of degrees cooler. Roughly only 1000 cases of this Chardonnay are produced every year which results in special, elegant, somewhat rebellious wine that has its own distinctive personality and character shaped by the growing season. Tasting Note:This is a classically structured wine which will please any lover of white Burgundy with its crystalline and tangy acidity, generous green and yellow citrus fruit, pink grapefruit, crunchy green apple and lemon curd. The intricate mineral flintiness and an intensity of lemon and green melon notes with a long, persistent, and noticeably concentrated finish this wine offers a lot of drinking pleasure. In true form the 2018 certainly carries on the Ava Marie tradition of freshness, bright acidity and wonderfully focused purity. 

Fourth-generation vigneron Fabien Coche took over his family’s domaine in 2005. Hailing from some of Burgundies most famed families (Coche-Dury was part of the same domaine until 1940 and now run by his cousin Raphael), Fabien is making big waves across Burgundy. His vineyard holdings total nearly 11 hectares spread across the appellations of Meursault, Monthelie, Pommard and Auxey-Duresses. Organic farming practices since 1998 for the 40 plots of vines that the family owns and average vine age is quite impressive with more than 60% of the vines over 60 years old. From a superbly sited vineyard that lies just below 1er cru Genevrieres and also borders on to 1er cru Les Charmes on the south side towards the Puligny Montrachet border. Coche’s vines here are 40-45 years old and the wine shows a step up in intensity yet still with the finesse and softeness typical of Charmes. Bottled after elevage of about 18 months. Very fine structure and notable length this has lovely balance already and is the most immediately approachable of all his Meursaults. A very fine village wine of considerable complexity.