Experience the extraordinary purity of the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley with the breathtakingly elegant Storm Wines Vrede Chardonnay 2025. This vintage-specific release represents a benchmark achievement for cool-climate South African white wine. Winemaker Hannes Storm sources the fruit from a northeast-facing slope rich in low-vigour, stony Bokkeveld shale. This specific soil profile infuses the vines with immense structural tension. It yields a Chardonnay of incredible complexity, profound depth, and unmistakable coastal minerality.
- 97/100 – Christian Eedes (Winemag.co.za): “The nose shows lime, lemon and herbs plus hints of nuttiness and dough. Extraordinary purity and presence, lip-smacking acidity and a pithy finish. A wine of considerable complexity.”
- 95/100 – James Suckling: “This has lovely aromas of cedar, raw hazelnuts, peaches and grapefruit, as well as hints of orange blossoms and lemon tart. It’s very creamy, engaging and textural, with salty undertones.”
The great 2025 growing season produced an intensely aromatic and brilliantly structured wine. The expressive nose reveals beautiful notes of lime, crisp lemon, and fresh herbs alongside subtle hints of roasted nuts and warm dough. On the palate, Storm Wines Vrede Chardonnay 2025 delivers an extraordinary presence with lip-smacking natural acidity. It offers a luxurious, texturally complex mid-palate that finishes with a distinct salted-almond paste note. This saline quality carries into a long, pithy, and altogether brilliant send-off.