First Lady Chardonnay

£12.79

£14.99

£17.05 per litre · incl. 20% VAT

In Stock

Warwick Estate's First Lady Chardonnay is the unoaked Cape white you'll keep reaching for. Bright yellow apple, white peach and a twist of lime, with just enough creamy texture to feel grown-up. Versatile at the table, brilliant by the glass, and very kind to your wallet, exactly the kind of weeknight Chardonnay UK drinkers have been quietly missing.

Not for sale to persons under 18. Adult signature required on delivery.

Region

South Africa

Grape

Chardonnay

Oak

The first white wine made in the First Lady range, this lively unoaked Chardonnay is versatile with an array of food pairing options. Most of the fermentation takes place in stainless steel while 7% of the wine is fermented in old oak to add some depth and structure to the palate

UK wide delivery

Expert curated

Sourced direct

Our Verdict

We list a lot of Cape Chardonnays, and this is the one we recommend when someone says they want something fresh, food-friendly and under fifteen pounds. Warwick have judged the oak influence beautifully, a whisper rather than a statement, and the result drinks miles above its price tag. It's become one of our most-ordered Stellenbosch whites, and we understand why: it's the bottle that disappears at a dinner party before anyone notices who opened it. If you enjoy this, the rest of the Warwick range is well worth exploring.

Tasting Notes

The nose is floral and bright, with winter melon, yellow apple, pear and a lift of white peach hinting at the warmer end of the fruit spectrum. The palate is medium-bodied with a gentle creamy texture, that small slice of old-oak fermentation doing its quiet work, woven through stone fruit, baked apple and a thread of pineapple and lime. The finish is crisp and clean, citrus carrying through to the last sip without ever turning sharp.

Orchard fruit lift

Yellow apple, pear and baked apple sit at the heart of this wine, ripe but never heavy, giving it real drinkability.

Stone fruit & melon

White peach and winter melon bring a softly perfumed roundness, the kind of summery character that makes Chardonnay so easy to love.

Citrus freshness

Lime and yellow citrus run the length of the palate, lifting the finish and keeping everything bright, clean and food-friendly.

Whisper of oak

A small portion fermented in old oak adds a creamy texture and quiet depth, without ever tipping into buttery or toasty territory.

About This Wine

If you've written off Chardonnay because of heavy, buttery, oak-soaked versions, this is the wine that brings you back. Warwick Estate built the First Lady range around honest, generous drinking, and the Chardonnay is its quiet star, a Stellenbosch white that puts fruit and freshness front and centre, with none of the woody weight.

Expect a perfumed, floral opening, then a rush of yellow apple, white peach, winter melon and pineapple. The palate is medium-bodied with a soft, creamy lift, threaded through with pear, baked apple and a clean stroke of lime on the finish. It's lively without being sharp, rounded without being heavy. The trick? Most of the wine ferments in stainless steel to keep that aromatic spark, while around seven percent rests in older oak, just enough to add depth, never enough to mask the fruit.

This is genuinely useful at the table. Pour it with roast chicken and lemony potatoes, a creamy fish pie, prawn linguine, or a Thai green curry. It's also a properly good apéritif on a warm evening.

Warwick is a family-run Stellenbosch estate with three generations of know-how behind it, and that shows in the polish here. We ship across the UK, usually within a couple of days, a smart house white to keep in the fridge, or a thoughtful little gift for the friend whose Pinot Grigio days are numbered.

Food Pairing

Built for the table. The crisp citrus edge cuts through a roast chicken with lemon and thyme, while the soft stone-fruit creaminess loves a Thai green curry or a plate of seared scallops. It's also brilliant with simpler fare, a goat's cheese tart, a summer salad with grilled peaches, or fish and chips eaten straight from the paper on a warm evening.

—Roast chicken with lemon and thyme
—Thai green curry with prawns
—Pan-seared scallops with brown butter
—Goat's cheese and caramelised onion tart
—Battered cod and chips with tartare sauce

How to Serve

Temperature

Cool but not cold, around 10°C. An hour in the fridge, then pull it out fifteen minutes before pouring.

Decanting

No need to decant. This is a fresh, unoaked-leaning style that's at its best straight from a well-chilled bottle, with all the aromatic lift intact.

Glass

A medium-bowled white wine glass lets the floral nose open up without losing the citrus snap.

The Winemaking

Picked in the cool of the early morning to lock in freshness and lifted aromatics, the grapes head straight to the press after de-stemming and crushing, no skin contact, keeping the wine bright and clean. The bulk of the ferment happens in stainless steel to preserve that orchard-fruit clarity, while a small portion (around 7%) goes into old oak. Just enough to round the edges and add a whisper of texture to the mid-palate, without ever tipping into buttery or oaky territory.

About the Producer

South African White

The Alvi's Drift story starts with a bridge. Back in 1928, Albertus Viljoen van der Merwe, Oupa Alvi to everyone who knew him, bought a stretch of land on the Breede River, and two years later commissioned a low-water crossing so locals could move between the two halves of the farm. That crossing, the 'drift' in the name, is still there. Three generations on, Oupa Alvi's grandson Alvi van der Merwe runs the cellar, which is a wonderful detour from his earlier career as a GP working across Canada, the UK and South Africa. He came home in 2003 to join his father Bertie in the vineyards, and now makes the wines alongside his wife Junel, a Cape Wine Master. The Signature range is their everyday calling card: serious winemaking dressed in approachable clothes.

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