IT'S HAPPENED again… And no doubt once more there will be naysayers, people who can't believe their eyes and ears, and yet… The humble, big-volume Douglas Green Chardonnay from the Wellington cellars of DGB has won gold and placed among the Top 10 in the 2025 edition of Chardonnay du Monde, France – this time with the 2024 vintage. Back in 2017 and 2018, the 2016 and 2017 vintages of Douglas Green Chardonnay won gold, with the 2016 chosen among the Top 10. Back then, the wine was retailing at below R60 a bottle. Today it's pitched at just under R80. i.e. at the time of writing, R79pb at Norman Goodfellows and R75pb at Makro, for example – although the chain stores and supermarkets seldom advertise what vintages they're dealing in. Also different this time round is that it's gone one better: top score overall!
Ranked number one out of 518 entries from 34 countries at a show judged by 200 tasters over three days at Château des Ravatys in Burgundy, the 2024 Douglas Green Chardonnay was the only unwooded wine among the most highly rated of the 82 gold medallists. And it wasn't the only South African among the Top 10: the 2024 Seascape Reserve Chardonnay from the Whalehaven cellar just outside Hemel-en-Aarde Village also placed right up there, entered pre-release and all but sold out by the time the competition results were announced (the 2023 vintage having been scored 96 points at the International Wine Challenge in the UK).
Douglas Green is a South African wine brand of long standing, however the company's cellars in Wellington aren't open to the public. The Chardonnay grapes come from different vineyards across the Western Cape. The wine is made at various other cellars under the direction of DGB's oenologist: fermented in stainless steel tanks and left on the fine lees (yeast sediment) before the final blending process and bottling in Wellington. “Tropical pineapple and honey melon aromas,” they say of the 2024. “Lemon lime flavours” with “subtle complexity” and a “zesty fruit finish… May develop further honeyed richness for up to three years.”
SA GOLD MEDALLISTS
Douglas Green Chardonnay 2024
R80pb recommended retail, Wellington cellar
Glenwood Vigneron's Selection Chardonnay 2024
R350pb ex-cellar, Franschhoek
Whalehaven Seascape Reserve Chardonnay 2024
R450pb ex-cellar, Hemel-en-Aarde Road, Hermanus
3 Responses
According to Douglas Green winemaker Dico du Toit: “Truly excited about this award! The wine is a blend between two very specific and varied regions, both cooler sites and producing some terrific whites. The first out of the Klein Karoo – stood out from the start, very modern, very concentrated and lean in style. Focused. The second wine from Slanghoek was a little richer in style and brought another dimension to the blend. The palate is full and rounded, textured. Nose: rich. Biscuits and a little cream, ripe yellow fruit. Honey suckle, complex. Balance is fantastic. Fullness, sucrocity and a long finish with a hint of tannin.”
What a pity! According to DGB brand manager Carey Christie: 70% of the wine was exported to the UK and some European markets, and in South Africa, the 2024 vintage was in the market but the Chardonnay is not as widely distributed as some of the other SKUs. There is no direct or cellar-door purchase option for Douglas Green wines, and, while they should be widely available at retail stores including grocers, Norman Goodfellows and Makro, at the time of writing the 2024 Chardonnay was nowhere to be had in Cape Town after visits to multiple stores in vain.
South Africa is showing again and again to be the best producer of value-for-money wines in the world. R80 a bottle, less than €5 a bottle!
Enjoy every drop of it. Chardonnay is the most constant cultivar from the Douglas Green brand.