Copeland Reserve was born from an act of quiet determination — Matthew Copeland rescuing the wines he had crafted at the Vondeling estate and releasing them under his own label, rather than let exceptional South African fruit disappear into obscurity. The Chardonnay is the white heart of the range, and a wine that showcases Matthew’s meticulous, thoughtful approach to winemaking with particular clarity and elegance.

The broad valleys, rolling hills, and granitic slopes of Paarl provide the ideal conditions for this expression of Chardonnay — a terroir that gives the wine both weight and freshness in equal measure. Clone selection and harvest timing are paramount: specific vineyard parcels are chosen for their ability to provide complexity and body, complemented by earlier pickings of more citrus-driven clones that add freshness and lift. All grapes are sourced from family-farmed vineyards and hand-picked during the cool morning hours. Whole-bunch pressing limits juice exposure to skin tannins and oxygen, preserving the vibrancy of both colour and flavour, before the unsettled juice undergoes natural fermentation in oak barrels — a process that ensures complexity and the seamless integration of oak that is the hallmark of great white Burgundy-inspired winemaking. Eleven months in 400-litre French oak barrels, 20% new, with occasional lees stirring to promote fullness and roundness, completes a winemaking process of real precision and care.

The 2025 is a Chardonnay of genuine elegance and refinement: silvery pale straw with a subtle green hue, with refreshingly crisp aromas of lime blossom layered with notes of toasted oats that are immediately and completely beguiling. On the palate it unfolds gracefully, with lingering hints of spun sugar that give the wine a lovely, delicate sweetness and a finish of real persistence and charm. Nimble, precise, and beautifully balanced. Pairs beautifully with grilled crayfish brushed with butter, or fresh ricotta and prosciutto on toasted bruschetta. At £23.49, it is Matthew Copeland at his most refined.