Nose

Lifted floral citrus notes with attractive hints of lemon meringue and gunflint.

Palate

Minerality and texture are at the core of the wine. A fine, elegant palate displays vibrant sweet citrus elements that lead to a fine, delicate, creamy oak texture supported by crisp natural acidity on the finish.

Growing Conditions

The vines enjoyed a near perfect growing season, with warm dry spring weather and relatively light winds prevailing along the Margaret River Coast. The summer conditions were nice and warm without excessive heat, until a curve ball arrived between 18 and 20 January when a rare weather event for this time of the year occurred, resulting in 80mm of rain falling over the region. This was a timely watering from Mother Nature for the reds - but not so timely for the whites which were only a couple of weeks from harvest. Some cooler conditions followed in late January and early February and this combination of events had the effect of delaying the white grape harvest until our first pick of Chardonnay on 8 February; one week later than the past few years. The team picked small parcels of Chardonnay fruit each day through to early March. The 2016 vintage was a very strong year overall for the whites which all displayed bright, intense varietal fruit flavours with excellent natural acidity.The fruit for this wine was sourced exclusively from the Broadvale Block 6 vineyard. Planted in 2004 to Clone 95 Chardonnay with a plant density of 2300 vines per hectare, this specially selected patch of soil is on the crown of a gentle hill, with a slight aspect to the east. The block is only 1.1 hectare in size with exceptionally uniform soil depth and structure. It is extremely gravelly with a very high content of granite and possesses an underlying stony-clay base at a depth of around one metre. This small patch of soil produces very balanced vines, which even from a young age proved extremely adept at expressing a distinctive quality and personality.


Harvest

Early hand-harvesting, use of wild yeast, grape solids and malolactic fermentation combined with regular bâtonnage, have all contributed texture, complexity and balance. Sensitive winemaking techniques and the use of French oak, have produced a wine which is restrained, complex and elegant.

Winemaking

A cane-pruned section of Broadvale Block 6 vineyard was hand-harvested on 12 February. The fruit was cooled overnight, before being wholebunch pressed to tank then moved to French oak barriques for natural fermentation in Tonnellerie Francis and Cadus. The high natural acidity and low baumé levels inherent to Clone 95 requires the use of malolactic fermentation to help reduce acidity, building texture and complexity through the palate. Bâtonnage was conducted in barrel every four weeks over the entire 11 month maturation period, before final blending in January 2017 and bottling in May 2017.

Aging

Up to 10 years

Appearance

Pale straw green colour.

Food Pairing

A great cheese board wine, as it's delicate enough to allow cheeses of various styles and textures shine.