Why it matters
The producer
Springfield Estate has belonged to the Bruwer family since 1898. Its owners are ninth-generation descendants of French Huguenots who came from the Loire to South Africa in 1688, carrying bundles of vines. Siblings Abrie and Jeanette Bruwer now run the estate.
Springfield aims to produce wine as naturally as possible, favoring intervention in the vineyard over intervention in the cellar. Each vineyard is matched to the intended grape variety and wine style. Vines are planted east to west for more even ripening, protection from the sun and the effect of the south-easterly breeze.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Some Springfield sites consist of about 70% quartz rock. Life from Stone grows in quartz-rich ground, and Springfield characterizes the wine as concentrated and powerful, with a flinty, mineral character linked to that site.
Wines to know
The range in view
Wild Yeast Chardonnay Springfield Estate 2024 comes from Chardonnay vines aged 16 to 21 years, using clone CY5 grafted onto 101/14 rootstock. The unwooded wine ferments in underground cement tanks through a slow, volatile process that can take six to nine months. For the 2024 vintage, alcoholic fermentation with native yeast lasted 60 days. The wine completed natural malolactic fermentation and spent ten months on its lees. Springfield gives it a three-to-four-year drinking horizon.
Springfield Estate Life from Stone Sauvignon Blanc 2024 has aromas of asparagus, Granny Smith apple, lime, passion fruit and vegetable notes. It is dry and medium-bodied, with present acidity, a generous mouthfeel and no wood. It may be enjoyed immediately or over the following two to three years.