HELENS HILL
The Helen’s Hill wine range holds the spirit of those who have gone before us. It celebrates passion, persistence and the genuine connection between people and land. Each wine is hand crafted and under goes an arduous selection process before it makes it into a Helen’s Hill bottle. As we know, great wine is made in the vineyard and as such only small select parcels of fruit from certain rows of our single vineyard site are handpicked at harvest. Each wine is fermented in select French oak barrels. Prior to bottling, each barrel is tasted and ranked with only the best barrels selected for the Helen’s Hill range.
SCOTT MCCARTHY
Winemaker Scott McCarthy was born in the wine game. From the moment he was old enough to walk his father had him in the family vineyard picking grapes. Scott joined Yalumba and after spending 10 years working in the Barossa Valley, he spent a number of years in areas as diverse as the USA's Napa Valley, the Loire Valley and Languedoc region in France, and Marlborough, in New Zealand. He came to realise that making wines from a cool climate region was where his true winemaking passion lay, and as a result he settled back in Australia at one of the best cool climate regions in the world; the Yarra Valley.
Breachley Block Chardonnay 2023
Handpicked fruit is crushed and gently pressed into a holding tank for 48 hours to separate the clear juice from the settled lees. The juice is then racked to a combination of 30% new and 70% older French oak barriques for primary fermentation. 100% wild yeast ferment. The fermenting barrels are placed in a temperature controlled storage area where the primary fermentation process is monitored until complete. After primary fermentation approximately 20% of the barrels undergo malolactic fermentation to add complexity and soften the acid structure. Throughout the entire fermentation process the wine undergoes battonage (lees stirring) to harmonize and add creaminess to the palate. Battonage continues through until the wine is prepared for bottling.
