Presenting Paserene

There are, in my limited experience, a number of reasons one falls in love with a particular example of The Wine. The most obvious being the smell & taste. Others include the label, the varietal, the method, a fond memory centred around the wine, the farm, the winemaker, the story....It denotes a rather special expression of The Wine when all of these come together in one. For me, it appears that Paserene Chardonnay 2013 may indeed grow into that wine.

Paserene, the wine with the beautifully wistful girl on the label, is a young wine made with great attention & care. It is a wine with a story ahead, a story that will grow and unfold as the label itself grows and changes. And while our beloved Chardonnay has not become what her creator hoped for her to be, she has become what she should be – a perfect representation of elegance.

Paserene Chardonnay is the child of Martin Smith, wine maker at Vilafonte, and the family will grow to 3 in the future – including a red blend named Marathon and a single-varietal Syrah.

Martin’s first child, Chardonnay, is made from Elgin fruit. He saw his lovely daughter grow to a soft, American-style Chardonnay. Unfortunately, this dear child proved rather strong-willed and said (to quote her father), “fuck you!” and chose a more refined path, taking 12 months to undergo malolactic fermentation followed by 16 months in oak barrel. She is austere, favours lemon cordial & peach pith, with a nutmeg-like undertone.

The next in the family is young Marathon, a Bordeaux blend led by Carmenere which, until early 2015 will not be recognized as a grape varietal in South Africa. Fortunately Father Smith fought for Marathon’s cause & convinced the department of Agriculture to accept this special character going forward. Marathon hails from Philidelphia where Martin is currently the only wine maker using the experimental block to produce his 1 700 bottles of this wine.

In time, we will meet sweet Syrah, who is currently safely tucked between the loving arms of her oak barrels & cemented in.

I, for one, look very much forward to seeing the story unfold.