Growing Conditions
Walsh and Sons love Chardonnay as much as Chardonnay loves to grow in the Margaret River region.We do our best to only intervene as much so as to give the wine its best chance to develop into its full potential.
This locality of the region is unique and this vineyard truly special in its aspect, and soil. Given its age and individuality we believe that it warrants recognition as one of the great sites in the country.
Freya is a Chardophile with Chardonnay from a family property set on the Margaret River itself in a locality called Burnside. Planted in 1981 by her father David on a bend in the river (Burnside means – one who lives on the bended side of a river) its unique micaceous black soils are a stones through from our own home and only 2km from where the river meets the ocean. The Chardonnay rows are on a steep northerly aspect with rows running in a north-west, south-east orientation.
Harvest
The Chardonnay was hand picked.
Winemaking
We have Chardonnay because it grows well, has intensity in all elements and we love to drink it. The fact it went in the ground during our child hood builds for us, an assoication with its existence and a compelling urge to emulate the Burnside sites' full potential.
Chardonnay is a chamelion variety that finds balance in any wine style. Making it is always effortless yet challenging in the same stroke. Our wines are designed to have edgy bits because we think its these differences that define us. To that end it’s not fined or filtered. This wine has a natural acid backbone with tremendous fruit intensity and depth of flavour.
Pressed straight to barrel. Natural yeasts get the job done on all our wines, macro oxygenation preferment ensures these site yeasts flourish, and in doing so they enhance the expression of the Burnside persona.
Barrels are French with 30% being new from a 300 litre Hogshead and the remainder 5 year old barriques. There is no stirring just topping and tasting on a fortnighly basis. If your good at maths you've probably worked out we didn't make much of this in 2017 so hopefully if you're reading this, you have your hands on a bottle.
Malolactic went through on its own cause in the late autumn and early spring giving a nice natural cover of CO2 during maturation. The wine remains undisturbed with some sulphur added just prior to a December bottling. We blended off the bench from barrel before bottling a week later.
Appearance
As the wine is unfined and unfiltered; it may present some harmless deposits in the bottle.
Food Pairing
Please Enjoy with Family and friends.
