Vineyards: The Chardonnay grapes for this wine are hand picked from a small, tree-lined vineyard, hidden in the upper valley of our farm. This cool South-facing vineyard receives direct sunlight early in the morning but falls in the shadow of the mountain by late afternoon. An occurrence, which allows us to remove the leaves in the bunch zone and to expose the bunches to direct sunlight. Direct sunlight in the cool of the morning promotes a ripe flavour profile without the risk of sunburn. Yields are low and the soil is comprised exclusively of weathered granite.

Winemaking: All grapes are picked at optimum ripeness, (normally about 24°B) in the early hours of the morning. They are then packed into a cold room to be chilled further and processed the following day.

The bunches are destemmed but not crushed before being pressed as whole berries. This action reduces the absorption of coarse phenolics and helps retain more of the grape’s natural acidity. This clear juice is then transferred to 500-litre French oak barrels for fermentation, where spontaneous fermentation by wild yeast is encouraged, ie NO commercial yeast culture is added. Although a nerve-racking process, this method promotes complexity in the wine.

The Chardonnay is matured on the yeast lees for 7 months and a high degree of malolactic fermentation occurs spontaneously. This malolactic fermentation promotes rich, buttery flavours. After this period the wine is racked from its yeast lees and blended homogenously to tank, where it can be adjusted, before being returned to barrel for a final 4 months. The wine spends a total of 11 months in oak before being bottled in January.