2023 Estate Chardonnay

We grow, make and farm our vineyards using a philosophy of sustainability and regenerative agriculture, applying a mix of biological, biodynamic and organic practices.Talland Hill ‘new block’ vineyard, situated on an Easterly facing slope at 190m above sea level, in Red Hill.Mill Hill vineyard, road block, situated on a Northerly facing slope at 270m above sea level, in Red Hill. The fruit is handpicked between three batches and whole bunched pressed using a gentle champagne press cycle. No e...Read More...

We grow, make and farm our vineyards using a philosophy of sustainability and regenerative agriculture, applying a mix of biological, biodynamic and organic practices.
Talland Hill ‘new block’ vineyard, situated on an Easterly facing slope at 190m above sea level, in Red Hill.
Mill Hill vineyard, road block, situated on a Northerly facing slope at 270m above sea level, in Red Hill.

The fruit is handpicked between three batches and whole bunched pressed using a gentle champagne press cycle. No enzymes or sulfur are used at the press tray and the juice is oxidatively handled to get rid of oxidative enzymes early on in the wine making process. The wine is left at ambient and transferred to barrel with full solids and minimal sulfur added.

Fermentation occurs using wild yeast and is then left unsulfured to the following summer at which time most of the wine has completed full malo-lactic fermentation.  A minimal amount of sulfur is added in the spring and left in barrel for a total of 12 months where it is racked off gross lees and into tank.  The resulting wine is bottled using no finings and minimal filtration.

A complex perfume of nutty barrel characters and a hint of cheese cloth gives way to white stone fruit and ripe lemon with jasmine flower and citrus blossom meeting a mineral saline edge.

The palate is alive with energy, showing stone fruit up-front and a creamy mid-palate texture. In the glass a while it opens up, progressing to a riper citrus and that refreshing mineral and saline finish. - Sam Coverdale, Winemaker.

 

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