Chardonnay bottle image
Chardonnay bottle image

Chardonnay 2013

Tasting Notes

This is a wonderful Chardonnay with lovely stone fruit characters, toasty oak, great acidity and balance. The nose is complex with a whiff of struck match. It has bags of flavour; it’s a proper Chardonnay. The trick is not to serve it too chilled, and to enjoy it with some appropriate food. I always say mushroom risotto, but it works.

We had good winter rains then warm summer conditions which brought about an early harvest. We had a few hot-cool-hot-cool periods which made it a little trickier to decide when to pick, but Joch reckons he got it right in the end.

We don’t let Joch get away with too much in the winery, but we do indulge him this Chardonnay. Once upon a time Joch’s parents presided over a reasonable sized area of the best plantings of Chardonnay in McLaren Vale, and sold the grapes to various customers including Seaview, Edwards and Chaffey and Penfolds (all the same company at one stage, but it’s so complicated I can’t remember) The Bosworth Chardy was the anchor for the first few vintages of Penfold’s ‘White Grange’, the Yattarna as well. Times have changed with the increase of Chardonnay plantings in cooler climate regions, and a change in demand (and the rise of Sauvignon Blanc), we have reduced our holdings of Chardonnay by grafting over to other varieties. 

We still have enough to make this beauty, however, and it has infinite amount of time, love and patience lavished upon it. We press the grapes straight into the very best French oak barrels (a mix of coopers and sizes (some Hogsheads – 500 litres, and some barriques – 225 litres) and allow the Chardonnay to undergo a natural ferment. We leave the wine on high solids to allow it to develop complexity and depth. We bottle straight from barrel and Joch makes sure that the wine does not go through malolactic fermentation, so we can retain the wine’s natural acidity and crispness.

Technical Details

Vineyards: Denton's and Chanticleer

Picking Date: 15th, 19th and 20th February 2013

pH Level: 3.19

Total Acidity: 6.68

Alc/Vol: 13.0%

Bottling Date: 12th December 2013