Chardonnay



Blend: 100% Chardonnay


Analysis:

Alcohol: 13.5% | PH: 3.57 | Titratable acidity: 5.0 g/L


Bottling Date: September 2019


Cellaring: 3+ years


Tasting Notes:

A vibrant Chardonnay with a fresh nose of crisp green apple, peach, mango, banana and pear with some complex notes of nut, popcorn, butter and caramel. Full-bodied, rich and round textured on the palate with brisk balancing acidity and flavours of grilled peach, nectarine, toffee apple, pie crust, vanilla and marshmallow with a long finish. Pair this with chicken braised with a white wine, mushroom cream sauce or grilled swordfish topped with grilled peaches.

Rhys Pender, Master of Wine

Wine Making:

2018 was a moderate growing season that started with an earlier budbreak and a warmer than average May. The season cooled during the summer months and rebounded with favourable September and October temperatures. The cooperative weather allowed us to retain acidity and provide quality fruit with increased crop levels. While the sun and heat create intense fruit flavours, the cool evenings preserve the natural acidity in the grapes keeping the wine fresh and lively.

The estate grown Chardonnay grapes were hand-picked and hand-sorted and then dropped whole-cluster into our pneumatic press (44% of which were cold soaked overnight prior to pressing) for a gentle extraction of the juice. 15% of the juice was fermented in tank while 85% was fermented in a selection of French and American oak 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 preferred yeasts were used to further enhance aromatic and textural complexity. Partial malolactic fermentation was followed by 8 months oak ageing. It was allowed to further age in bottle for more than 1 year, before its release.

To barrel age the 2018 Chardonnay we used: 80% French, 20% American with 47% new, 33% one-year-old, 20% two-year-old oak.

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