The Emily

The Emily is a South African Chardonnay that curiously includes two percent Pinot Noir.  Two percent.  Why?  Who knows?  We would say just for the slightly pink color, except the two percent pinot also beefs up the body and enhances the flavor.  So like we always say, there's no reason to blend grapes unless you improve the end result, and the proprietor, Longridge, has made The Emily a very worthwhile quaff.

The Emily commemorated in the wine name is Emily Hobhouse, a humanitarian who exposed the cruelty of Anglo-Boer war concentration camps at the turn of the last century.  They say as much on the back label.  They also hint at the reason for the two percent Pinot Noir.  They say it is for the color.  "Oeil de Perdrix" (eye of the partridge) is a historic very blush color which wine makers seemingly aspire to recreate.

The wine is sourced from Stellenbosch, the oldest and finest wine appellation in South Africa.  Their claim to fame is Cabernet Sauvignon and those grapes, of course, get the choice hillside vineyards with their rocky soils.  The white wine grapes typically are sourced from clayey Stellenbosch valley vineyards closer to the maritime influencing False Bay.  The vineyards used for this wine are biodynamically farmed and the fruit is hand harvested.

(FYI - Geologists claim South African soils to be the oldest vineyard soils in the world.)

The Emily is unoaked Chardonnay but the wine is left on the lees for nine months before blending in the two percent oaked pinot.  That would also account for some of its richness.  Depending on which review you look at, the wine may have aromas and flavors of guava, kiwi, citrus, kumquat, peach, melon or green apple.  We think this wine would go with chicken, turkey or maybe...partridge.