Chardonnay bottle image
Chardonnay bottle image

Chardonnay 2011

Tasting Notes

On the nose hazelnut, melon and stone fruit, as well as complex lees character, including ‘struck match’. The palate is complex too, with a fresh nuttiness and citrus characters, overlain with the gorgeous oak and wonderful length. 

We had good winter rains after a few seasons of below average rainfall. This was a late season: budburst was approximately 2-3 weeks late, and harvest started similarly behind our standard season (we usually start picking Chardonnay in early/ mid February). This year we picked whites in late February/ early March. Unseasonal rains in March threw a spanner in the works somewhat, but luck and good management helped us dodge most of the bullets. Overall this was a very long vintage with moderate yields which tested Joch’s nerves a little more than usual. 

A gentle wild ferment in the very best oak (100% French oak, 40% of which was brand new), high solids, gentle processing... this wine had it all in terms of winemaking technique. The grapes were pressed straight into barrel after picking, and underwent a natural ferment (relying on yeasts found naturally in the vineyard rather than cultured yeast). Allowing the wine to remaining on high solids gave the wine a chance to develop complexity and depth of flavour, as well as acting as a natural anti-oxidant by scavenging any oxygen lurking about in the barrels. The Chardonnay was bottled straight from barrel. About 10% of the wine underwent malolactic fermentation. 

  • Wine 100 Australia's Wine Business Magazine Mike Bennie May 2012

     

    Texture, finesse and understated elegance are the themes here, making for a much more refreshing and citrus-driven Chardonnay than you might expect for this warm region.

    91 points

  • The Wine Advocate #205 February 2013 Lisa Perrotti-Brown

    The 2011 Chardonnay is fermented naturally in 50% new french oak and exudes aromas of warm apples, apricots and pink guava with suggestions of cedar, Brazil nuts and yeast extract and preserved lemon. Medium-bodied with a lovely silken texture, a good concentration of stone fruit and nut flavours and refreshing acid backbone, it finishes long.

    Drink now to 2015

    91 points

Technical Details

Picking Date: 25th Jan 2011, 3rd March 2011 and 4th March 2011

Bottling Date: 8th December 2011

Alc/Vol: 13.0%