Nose
The nose exhibits aromas of fresh cut pear and honeydew 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
It can get a bit repetitive describing vintages in Margaret River, our lesser vintages are still pretty good and our good vintages are just perfect. 2018 will, I believe, be proven to be in time one of the great vintages.
It was an early start, perhaps a bit surprisingly considering a very mild spring and start of summer. At Hay Shed Hill we picked Chardonnay on 5 February, which is five days earlier than ever before - the seasons continue to get earlier. Climate change doubters need to listen to what the plants are telling us. The weather records will show that the summer months of February and March in the South West of WA were generally fine, very little rain and with no days over 40°, in fact at Hay Shed Hill we had no days over 35°. The mild weather allowed even, gradual ripening and moderate accumulation of sugar, ideal ripening conditions.
Winemaking
Only free run juice from the old vine Gin Gin 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.