Winery & Vintage Info
A fresh, bright, modern Chardonnay. Citrus, white Peach and melon layered with subtle complexity gained from barrel fermentation and maturation.
The fruit was picked over two and a half weeks between the 27th of February and the 14th of March, reflecting the difference in ripening between both blocks in the vineyard, and clones within the blocks. This combination of clones, picking dates, and blocks also encourages complexity of fruit profiles and balanced natural acidity.
The grapes for this wine were picked and immediately pressed, with the juice going directly to barrel (no juice settling or fining prior to ferment). Only the free run juice and the light pressings are used for this wine. Ferments were carried out using a mixture of wild and cultivated yeast strains, in French Oak barrels. Of these barrels approximately 15% are new with a mixture of larger format oak in Hogs Heads and Puncheons. Lees stirring was undertaken in the following months to increase complexity. A small percentage (10%) of the barrel ferments went through a malolactic fermentation. New barrels used in the blend came from the coopers Damy, Sirugue, and St Martin – with wood sourced from the Allier, Vosges and Jupille forests.
The 2018 vintage will be remembered as one of particularly high quality. Unusually dry winter conditions continued through summer, with the only rainfall fortunately coming with ideal timing. These conditions allowed the vines to progress through summer without complication, ripening a slightly larger than average crop of grapes. Trimming of the canopy was performed twice throughout the summer months, leaving more foliage on than in some other years to protect the grapes from the hot and dry conditions and allow the grapes to retain their acidity and citrus flavour. Harvest dates were about two weeks earlier than normal, with the first of the Chardonnay grapes being picked on the 27th of February.
Made exclusively from fruit grown at the Myrtle Point Vineyard in the coastal Gippsland Lakes District, Victoria. Located between the Great Dividing Range and Bass Straight, the Gippsland Lakes District enjoys a cool, semi-maritime climate.
The Myrtle Point Vineyard is located high on a limestone bluff above the Mitchell River. The soil structure of the vineyard is classic Terra Rosa over Limestone which is highly unusual in Gippsland. Winery Notes
