Chardonnay



Analysis:

Alcohol: 14% | PH: 3.45 | Titratable acidity: 6.57 g/L

 


Bottling Date: September 2014


Cellaring: 3+ Years


Tasting Notes:

The 2013 vintage balances freshness and ripeness with subtly-used French oak. The nose shows lemon, nectarine, hints of banana and pineapple with notes of nut, lees and well-integrated dusty oak. The palate is crisp, medium bodied with a beautiful, silky texture. There is plenty of intensity in the complex citrus, almond, honeydew melon, savoury lees and intricate minerality, all with a lively, stony and juicy long finish. Pair with garlic sautéed BC prawns and a squeeze of lemon or crab cakes with a citrus salad. — Rhys Pender, Master of Wine

Wine Making:

2013 early spring allowed for an even bud break, flowering and fruit set. Summer heat ripened the grapes nicely and the cool autumn provided conditions for the acidity to be retained giving the wines a lively freshness to balance the ripe fruit. The estate grown Chardonnay grapes were handpicked and hand sorted and then dropped whole-cluster into our pneumatic press for a gentle extraction of the juice. Drained by gravity flow into tank, the juice was chilled overnight to remove excess solids. 60% of the juice was fermented in tank while 40% fermented in barrels. Each method has advantages; fermentation under temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks produces vibrant and lean wines, barrel fermentation brings savoury and oaky undertones along with rounded texture. Different strains of yeasts were used to further enhance aromatic and textural complexity. Malolactic fermentation was followed by 10 months ageing. The wine was then filtered and cold stabilized prior to bottling. It was allowed to further age in bottle before its release.

PDF Download

Individual Bottle Images

Large (178 KB) medium (378 KB) small (132 KB)

label Bottle Images

small (104 KB)