Nose

The nose exhibits aromas of fresh cut pear and honey dew melon with some zesty citric notes. There are no overt woody or buttery aromas with the primary fruit characters expressed with clarity and definition.


Palate

The palate is fresh and lively with clean crisp acidity complementing the vibrant fruity flavours. The palate has very good extension and ends clean and bright. This is a restrained style of Australian Chardonnay and highlights how far we have come with this style of wine over the last decade.

Growing Conditions

The 2017 vintage started late, two to three weeks later than the preceding couple of years. Early ripening varieties such as Chardonnay were harvested at the end of February through the first half of March. The reason for this was the mild, cool spring weather experienced all across the southern part of the state. This can be quite beneficial as cool ripening conditions helps maintain the fresh, bright aromas of these early white varieties. Varieties like Chardonnay from 2017 are quite stunning in their liveliness and flavour at relatively low alcohol levels.
During the middle and latter part of March the South-West regional including Margaret River experienced a very unusual amount of rain and very cool weather, ripening over this period was very slow. The first suggestions of worry started to appear in growers eyes. Of recent history, Margaret River has experienced very dry conditions in March and early April with the season breaking mid to late April, not a problem with all the grapes picked. But this year the concern was that if the season broke in mid-April all the red grapes would be still on the vine. However, anyone that lived through the late April and early May in the South-West of Western Australia will testify that never had we had a better, warmer early autumn. It was simply perfect; cool crisp mornings and evenings but beautiful warm and sunny days; not too hot, textbook conditions for great ripening.

Winemaking

Only free run juice from the old vine Gingin clone Chardonnay was used in the making of this wine, this component of the juice is the highest in quality with the most intense fruit expression and the lowest in undesirable phenolic skin characters. The clear juice was fermented in French oak barriques; 30% new with the balance being one, two and three years old. The wine was matured in the same barriques for a further 10 months. No lees stirring or malo lactic fermentation was allowed in order to preserve and highlight the purity of fruit expression. The objective was to make a wine that expressed the character of this superb vineyard in an elegant and restrained style of wine that would be bright, vibrant and fresh in its youth but benefit from medium term cellaring.

Appearance

The wine displays fresh green tinges on a pale straw colour.