BARREL FERMENTED, LEES AGED FOR 15 MONTHS, ZIPPY, TIGHT AND TOASTY

Being a Barossa guy at heart, I’ve always worked with varieties that fit in this landscape, think Viognier, Marsanne, Riesling, Semillon. So, for the past decade or more I’ve been ageing these broader white varieties on less for nearly a year - I love the texture it builds and the body and character it gives.

I wanted to push this ‘sur lie’ technique a bit further and I needed a variety that would have the balance of acidity and structure that would handle extended lees ageing in barrel. Chardonnay was the obvious choice, and with great vineyard sites in the Adelaide Hills under an hour away, there was no reason not to take a punt and have a go.

For me this example of chardonnay shows a bit of my Barossa breeding, a bit more oxidised, structured and full bodied than the normal hills examples, but the zippy acidity that interplays with toasty lees characters was exactly what I was looking for.

TECHNICAL STUFF

VINEYARD:

• Lobethal, Adelaide Hills.

• 480 metres altitude, north facing slope,

• Quartz and mica schist on weathered sandstone.

WINEMAKING:

• Hand harvested and pressed as 100% whole clusters

• Pressings remaining separate.

• Barrel fermented in new and seasoned French oak puncheons and barriques

• Aged on lees for 18 months before bottling with no fining or filtration.

558 bottles produced

Bottled 22nd March, 2024