Geographe, Western Australia. Style: Not to be approached lightly in its youth. Full flavoured, complex and textural, yet still lively and refreshing. It will likely benefit from some air (a gentle decanting?) until 2015 or so.
Background: Chardonnay hails from north-eastern France where it is made into a number of styles ranging from the delicate fizz of Champagne and tautness of Chablis to complex, fuller bodied whites in the Côte de Beaune of Burgundy. This, our second release of this wine, has been made using the traditional techniques of the latter, yet with an expression of fruit unique to this site. Hand picked bunches were pressed whole, with the unclarified juice filled to Burgundian coopered French oak barrels (one third of which were new) with no additions. The natural yeast from the vineyard (and perhaps winery) kicked in a few days later and fermented the wine to dryness over the next few weeks. The wine then stayed on lees for ten months with regular stirring and some barrels underwent some natural malolactic fermentation. The best barrels were selected, blended and prepared for bottling in January.
Vineyards: Estate grown in the Ferguson Valley on our 'Victoria' Chardonnay block planted to the Gin Gin (or Mendoza) clone in 1997. The Victoria Chardonnay block has a gentle Easterly aspect and sits protected in a natural amphitheatre at an elevation of around 250m above sea level (a contour which also dissects the Grand Cru Chardonnay vineyards of Montrachet. Coincidence? Maybe, maybe not!). All the vines on our estate vineyards grow on their own roots in classic WA "Marri soil" (a deep layer of ironstone gravelly loam over red and yellow friable clay) and are typically spur-pruned and vertically trellised.
Tasting Notes
Appearance: Pale green with hints of straw.Nose: Boom - not a shy or feminine style. It initially reeks of rose petals, funky tropical holiday fruits and curry leaf. After 10 minutes in the glass it settles back to show regional typicity for the variety - ripe white fleshed stonefruit, citrus pith and blossom. With more time still, the limey signature of Chardonnay from our vineyard really comes further to the fore.
Palate: Weighty and woolly - it's a pretty big mouthful of quince, exotic tropical fruits and soft, ripe stonefruits to start. Like the nose, the palate fines up and becomes more citrus focussed in both flavour and feel as the wine breathes. The mid-palate has some yoghurt creaminess and the finish has a little oatmeal tannin and is highlighted by a twist of limey acidity.
Cellaring: It definitely benefits from some air in its youth, and its vivid green now suggests it is a baby. We said 2018 on the label, but that is likely to be conservative.
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