2017 Chenin Blanc ‘on Chardonnay’

The 2017 Chenin at its simplest is elemental: Flavors of sea spray from the proximity to the ocean. Texture from the Granite which it was grown. Flavors of fresh apple, pear and flowers bring the raw elements together.

This year the Chenin Blanc fruit was hand picked from 40 year old vines in the heart of Willyabrup, Margaret River. These are the oldest Chenin vines we have worked with to date, wtih older vines generally baring lower yeilds of higher quality grapes. The vinyeard lies on the edge of the Willyabrup brook, with large pieces of granite pearcing through the gravelly loam soils. The bunches are different in form than others, with looser bunches and smaller berries, whether this is site or clone we are unsure, but the grapes have great intensity of flavour.

We hand picked the fruit along with a few buckets of viognier (for aroma) in the early ours of the morning and chilled the fruit prior to gently pressing using a champagne press. The fruit was naturally settled prior to a wild fermentation in a combination of clay and aged oak.

During its maturation we added a combination Albino PNO lees to some barriques and Chardonnay lees to other vessels for complexity; hand stirring fortnightly for depth and texture. Finally the wine was blended with a little bit of Chardonnay for additional depth of flavour. The wine was matured and softened in vessel for 15 months prior to settling in tank for a further 3 months prior to bottling.

Only 1800 bottles of this wine were made. The wine was bottled completely unfined and unfiltered and because of this some natural sediment may remain.

Winemaking Notes:

Variety: Chenin Blanc 87% Chardonnay 10% Viognier 3% Vineyard: Willyabrup, Margaret River Soil: Granite and gravelley loam Quantity: 150 doz produced (500ml bottles) Maturation: Barrique and Amphora Closure: Diam Winemaker: Nicolas Peterkin