Berene Sauls’ Journey, Bottled
There are wines that speak of place, and then there are wines that sing of it. Tesselaarsdal’s 2022 Chardonnay is an Opera. I’ll get to the wine in a moment—but first, the backstory. Because this bottle comes with more than just great taste; it comes with heart, history, and an almost impossible arc of perseverance.
Berene Sauls, the force behind Tesselaarsdal, started her career in wine as an au pair for the Hamilton Russell family. From there, she moved into admin, then export and labeling, quietly learning the ropes at one of South Africa’s most respected estates. She didn’t set out to be a winemaker. But the vineyard had other plans.
In 2015, with encouragement from Anthony Hamilton Russell, Berene launched her own label—becoming the first person from her community in the Hemel-en-Aarde region to do so. She named it Tesselaarsdal after the village where she was born, a place granted to her ancestors—freed slaves—in the 1800s. The name is more than a tribute. It’s a declaration.
Now, about this 2022 Chardonnay: it’s a graceful wine, restrained yet expressive, with a crystalline sense of minerality that could only come from the Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge’s cool-climate vineyards. There’s lemon toast and white pear on the nose, a lovely line of acidity through the palate, and a silkiness that unfolds slowly and beautifully. It’s elegant in the truest sense of the word—quietly confident and full of purpose.
Berene works with dry-farmed fruit from La Vierge vineyards, and ages the wine in a mix of amphorae and neutral oak, allowing the purity of the site to shine. Only 614 cases were made, which means this is not just a wine—it’s a rare opportunity to taste a remarkable journey in liquid form.
Let me know how many you’d like—I wouldn’t wait too long.
93 Points Decanter
Notes of fresh spice combined with citrus. Subtle oak. Bright and crisp acidity keeps the palate super fresh. Berene Sauls’ new venture is well worth following. Hamilton Russell winemaker Emul Ross is making the wine here, the grapes sourced from La Vierge’s Babylon vineyard on the Ridge. Aged for five months with 77% in amphorae and 23% neutral wood.
91 Points James Suckling
Sliced pears, apples, wet stones and pastries on the nose. Medium-bodied, bright and clean, with savory, flinty elements underlining the fresh fruit.
