Bouchard Finlayson, Missionvale Chardonnay 2007

Bouchard Finlayson's Missionvale is the wine that put Walker Bay Chardonnay on the international map, and the 2007 — now nearly two decades old — is a fascinating argument for what the Cape can do with serious, cool-climate fruit. Fermented and aged in French oak, it has always been styled in dialogue with Burgundy rather than in imitation of it: the structure is there, the minerality is real, but there's a warmth and richness that is entirely South African. At this age, the primary citrus has long since given way to something more contemplative — beeswax, toasted nuts, a lick of lanolin, and a stony, saline persistence on the finish.