For many years, we had four generations of the family on our farm, and when the last of our elders passed we decided to make a special wine in honour of all our elders, and in particular, our own grandmother, or in French, “Grand Mere”.

Being of the old school and french, Granny often told us of the ways that her father grew vines back in France when she was little. “Pas de mauvaises herbes.” (No weeds). We never achieved that, and probably never will, but we have achieved a traditional french style chardonnay blend that she would have liked.

Using new french oak, selected, premium fruit, malolactic fermentation and lees contact, the “Grand Mere” has superior structure and texture compared with whites made in tank, but without being too “old school” and heavy.