Durbanville Hills Rhinofields Chardonnay 2006

August 22, 2008

I picked this bottle up from Winesense the other day for a fish braai that I was attending on a perfect Cape Town evening.

Durbanville Hills Rhinofields Chardonnay 2006

Intense, bright yellow/gold hue - probabably the most yellow wine I’ve ever seen. Powerful nose - sweet apricots and asparagus. A very heavy palate - honey and vanilla with a fresh cut grass finish.

(Price: R78 - Score: {3.5 out of 5} and 88/100 points)

Wow - what a huge, powerful wine.

It definitely gets you talking about it which is why I’m giving it an Interest score of 4. It’s a bit overwhelming though and for that reason I’m giving it a Drinkability score of 3. At around R80 for a bottle I’d say it’s fair so it gets a Value rating of 3. When paired with the fish, the wine lost a bit of it’s ‘kick’ and therefore get’s an Enjoyment rating of 4.

I’m not going to do the above breakdown from now on - I just did it this time to show you how I’m applying the new rating system!

ps: The name Rhinofields refers to the indigenous Cape fynbos growing near the cellar.

Posted in White Wine, Wine Reviews