2017 Chardonnay
Margaret River has established an international reputation for exceptional Chardonnay.
The Cape Mentelle style draws inspiration from traditional methods to deliver a wine displaying aromatic complexity and a finely textured palate with a long, clean finish.
Nose
The nose is already intense and opens with classic varietal notes of ripe citrus, white peaches with grilled pineapple and leave way to a complexity with toasted nuts, wisteria flowers, muscaty whiffs and very savoury undertones. All come to play with the mouth-watering panettone crumb notes of the caramelised oak.
Palate
Textural, almost oily from the first sip with aromas of white and yellow peaches, raisins, cantaloupe and candied citrus peels. Fresh but already rich and enveloped with warm charred oak and brioche notes on the finish. This wine will reward patience with developing complexity, expected to reveal itself even further over many years.
Blend
100% Chardonnay
Cellaring
Potential to age up to 15-20 years
Food Pairing Notes
This chardonnay will pair well with a grilled lamb liver and caramelised onions with warm applesauce, or just a simple brunch of creamy scrambled eggs with thick cut streaky bacon rubbed in truffle salt and topped with fresh chives.
The Vineyard
The chardonnay is newly only single cane-pruned and all vertical shoot positioned producing an upright open canopy. Our 2 chardonnay vineyards (Chapman Brook and Crossroad) are planted to the Gin Gin selection along with classic Burgundian clones 95 and 76 and one patch of Californian clone 5. The canopy is extensively and early opened and thinned by hand on both sides, fully exposing berries for even ripening while our naturally cool nights preserve the natural acidity.
Winemaking
As each block has a very different personality picking is only decided by taste. Harvest extends over a long period, from late February to mid-March. The fruit is 100% hand-picked into small 6.5kg baskets to ensure it arrives in pristine condition. After gentle whole-bunch pressing, the batches go straight to barrels, all solids remaining. We use exclusively French oak, with Burgundian barrel format, at about one third new. Wild fermentation is left to happen with some malolactic fermentation. The wine was bottled over two days in mid-January, just before the start of the following harvest.
Analysis
14.5% alcohol, 7.2 g/l total acidity, 3.2pH
Wine Companion
Hand-picked, whole-bunch pressed, wild-fermented, held in bottle until release. It takes a millisecond for its flavour mass to reach every corner of the mouth. 14.5% alcohol? It looks much lower than that, but that doesn't mean for a moment it has any unripe elements in its makeup.
