With extensive experience and knowledge of the Hemel & Aarde valley (having been behind the wines of Hamilton Russel for a decade), proprietor of Ataraxia’s Kevin Arnold is an authority in the region. Home to a spectacular location beneath the Babylon’s Toren Mountain in the Hemel & Aarde Ridge, Ataraxia now has a well-established reputation, especially for its exceptional Chardonnay. These wines are so tight and nervy, it’s a sin to drink them young. The 2012 has built wonderful complexity on top of its freshness. Athletic, chiselled and precise, it embraces the very adult tastes of salinity, brininess and minerality.