Tasting notes:

The brilliant ‘second wine’ from South Africa’s high-end Chardonnay maker Capensis, Silene offers a more affordable and absolutely delicious taste of great white wine from the Western Cape. A near-perfect Chardonnay in the leaner style, there is some peachy fruit and a touch of caramel, but dominant are notes of dry toast, fresh lemon and a touch of grapefruit pith, making this a super-sippable and beautiful, bitter-fresh expression of barrel-influenced Chardonnay. (Patrick Schmitt MW)