Nose
Delicate and subtle fruit notes of honeydew melon.
Palate
The palate is focused and shaped by the savouy mineral texture and a fine line of acidity, typical of this cooler climate.
Growing Conditions
intage at Burch Family Wines is a protracted event which commences each February and concludes in April. It is a time of frenetic activity, excitement and lots of weather watching. Over the ripening period, the weather comes under increased scrutiny the closer one gets to harvest as this annual progression of the seasons, begins to shape the quality and style of the vintage.
The 2016 vintage in the Great Southern began on 6th February and concluded on 10th April. In this cool continental climate, the winter of 2015 was mild with sufficient rains to replenish catchments, spring less blustery than preceding years and the start of summer, hot. When verasion began, in mid-January, the native marri blossom was curiously absent. The “bird pressure” as we call it, can have a significant impact on quality, quantity and stress levels.
As summer passed into autumn, the more southerly of the sub regions, Mount Barker and Porongurup, spent the vintage period in and out of humid on-shore streams with rainfall to April twice the average.
Winemaking
The individual vineyard blocks that comprise Flint Rock Chardonnay are vinified separately. Each batch is hand-picked, cooled and sorted before pressing to extract the free run juice. Fermentation and malo-lactic occurs in a combination of older French oak and stainless steel tank. The temperature of fermentation is between 18ºC to 22ºC and the lees are stirred from the end of fermentation and throughout the malo-lactic. After 10 months on lees, the wine is blended to tank and held for 2 months prior to fining, filtration and bottling.
Food Pairing
Flesh peach and lemon zest layered with nutmeal and lemon curd in a “mille-feuille” way.
