Quick Description [+]
Chardonnay as a grape variety grows well in a variety of climates, but it’s when it’s grown in the cooler wine regions of the world (such as that of Robe and Mt Benson) that you get a great balance of delicate floral and fruit flavours, along with natural acidity and minerality.
This is because the slower ripening experienced here allows the elegant floral and stone fruit flavours to gently accumulate in perfect harmony alongside the sugars and phenolics in the grapes.
The cooler ripening also slows the grape’s metabolism of organic acids, removing the need for us to adjust the acidity in each wine to achieve perfect balance.
Flavour [+]
Soft and creamy but with a fresh zing of acidity.
Flavours of peach, lemon and vanilla cream with a hint of coffee.
Winemaking [+]
This Chardonnay was sourced from a premium vineyard close to the winery and the fruit was harvested at sunrise.
The grapes were pressed off very quickly to separate the juice from the skins as soon as possible and to prevent the phenolics leeching into the juice and the resulting wine.
"I wanted this wine to be soft and delicate so minimising the skin contact helped eliminate the undesirable extraction of phenolics from the skins and seeds, and reduced the need for me to soften the wine further before bottling.” Dan Berrigan
The fermentation was initially completed in stainless steel vats and the fermenting wine was transferred to barrels when almost dry.
For 8 months this Chardonnay was matured in a combination of new, 1 yr old and 2 yr old fine-grained French oak barriques whilst also receiving regular lees stirring (re-suspending the yeast that has fallen to the bottom of the tank after ferment). This helped soften the wine naturally and built the mid-palate while introducing more flavour and complexity into the wine.
Awards [+]
2019 Chardonnay - released dec 2019
Silver medal Melbourne International Wine Challenge 2019
Silver medal - Sydney Royal Wine Show 2018
Food Matches [+]
Soft and hard Cheeses
Seafood
Caesar salad
Pan seared fish
