4.4/5
Iona Kloof Chardonnay 2023
Original price was: £41.95.£35.50Current price is: £35.50. incl. VAT
23 in stock
Decanter Gold, 95 points. Elgin Highlands Chardonnay from Iona’s high-altitude Kloof Vineyard. White flower and citrus rind on the nose lift to struck-flint; the palate is taut and mineral with chalky acidity, white peach, lemon curd and a long, linear finish. Precise, savoury, cool-climate Chardonnay at its best.
🏆 Decanter World Wine Awards 2026 — Gold, 95 points
The Iona Kloof Chardonnay 2023 has been awarded a Gold medal and 95 points at the 2026 Decanter World Wine Awards — the world’s largest and most influential wine competition. Gold sits just below Platinum and places this Elgin Highlands Chardonnay among the highest-rated wines of the year from over 17,000 entries judged across 58 countries.
2023 Vintage — Kloof Vineyard, Elgin Highlands, Western Cape, South Africa
Iona sits at the very top of the Elgin valley, farmed by Andrew Gunn on the highest and coolest sites in South Africa’s most maritime-influenced Chardonnay ward. The Kloof Vineyard is a single, high-altitude parcel on Bokkeveld shale — the origin of the estate’s most precise and mineral wines. Iona’s Chardonnays have long earned a place among the country’s very best; the Kloof cuvée is the reference-point site expression.
The 2023 vintage is 100% Chardonnay, hand-picked from the single Kloof site. Whole-bunch pressed with minimal skin contact, wild-yeast fermentation in French oak (a measured proportion new), followed by extended time on the lees before racking. Nothing fined or filtered where not necessary — a pure translation of site to bottle.
The 2023 release shows white flower, orange blossom and citrus rind on the nose, lifted by a hint of struck-flint reduction. The palate is taut and linear — bright chalky acidity, layers of white peach and lemon curd, a savoury lees texture and a long, mineral finish that is unmistakably Elgin Highlands. A precise, food-friendly Chardonnay — excellent with rich seafood, roast chicken or hard mountain cheeses.
