Nose
The wild barrel ferment on solids adds savoury aromatics such as wild herbs and toasty-flinty notes.
Palate
Flavours of rockmelon, pear and citrus drive the palate with layers of complexity providing the thumb print of the Evans & Tate house style. Extended maturation in barrel has also contributed malt flavours, textural complexity and beautiful integration.
Harvest
A prolonged cool and wet growing season meant the vines were lush and healthy heading into ripening. This resulted in later maturity and harvest dates accentuated by the cool and wet ripening months, with February and March providing the coolest and wettest conditions experienced in the region for more than 15 years. These conditions produced highly aromatic whites with very low phenolic levels and high natural acidity.
Winemaking
The fruit was selectively handpicked when each block achieved optimum flavour intensity and acid levels. The cold fruit was whole bunch pressed with no pressings juice used in the blend. This gentle handling is critical to produce our unique Chardonnay style. The wine underwent wild fermentation in 20% new French oak barriques and puncheons. 15% of the wine underwent malolactic fermentation to achieve balance and texture. All batches remained on yeast lees for 14 months with regular stirring. Select barrels were then blended and the final blend was filtered once prior to bottling and maturation.
Appearance
Pale straw in colour with a fresh green rim.
Food Pairing
Delicious with a seafood linguine.
