VITICULTURE The fruit for this wine was sourced from Graham MacLaurin's premium hillside block in Hexton. This north facing slope has a history of producing award winning wines. The Mendoza clone of Chardonnay in this block is pruned to two canes and the vines have naturally low vigour with a balanced canopy and excellent fruit exposure which allowed the grapes to reach optimal maturity.HARVEST DETAILS The grapes were hand harvested in excellent condition on the 28th March, showing ripe varietal characters.
Sugar (° Brix)
|
Titratable Acidity (g/L)
|
pH
|
23.0
|
7.90
|
3.40
|
WINEMAKING NOTES The grapes were gently pressed as whole bunches with the resulting free run juice cold settled overnight. This was then racked to a mixture of one and two year old French barriques. One third of the blend was allowed to undergo fermentation utilising the native yeast species indigenous to the vineyard with the remaining two thirds inoculated with selected yeast strains to enhance the varietal character. 33% of the wine underwent malolactic fermentation. The blend remained in barrel with regular battonage for ten months prior to bottling.
TASTING NOTES Light yellow in colour, this wine shows aromas of stonefruit and citrus with integrated toasty vanilla oak and mealy barrel fermentation characters. The palate is rich and textured with citrus and oak characters leading to a long clean finish.
WINE ANALYSIS
Alcohol (% v/v)
|
Titratable Acidity (g/L)
|
pH
|
Residual Sugar (g/L)
|
13.8
|
6.50
|
3.48
|
<
2.0 g/L
|
FOOD MATCH Serve with creamy pasta dishes and rich white meat dishes
incorporating chicken or pork. Alternatively, match with rich fish such as salmon or
seared tuna.
