High Eden Road Chardonnay.
We love Chardonnay!
Apart from white Rhone on special occasions. It's our go to.
This is our third release (previously 2019 & 2020) We primarily make wine to drink ourselves, and we share a little... We didn't plan to make the Chardonnay in 23, but drinking stock was low so it was time!
After a cheeky couple of phone calls we found the right vineyard.
The 2023 release was hand-picked by Mun & Dad with a few helpers. The vineyard is not far from our house up towards High Eden. It was an especially cool day and the little hen and chicken bunches where painfully slow to pick. The 722kg was then brought home.
Then a very messy Basket Pressing session took place.
The juice was then put to a stainless tank to settle overnight. The next day two seasoned French Oak Barriques were filled and eventually underwent a spontaneous barrel fermentation. The wine was left on solids with one Barrique being lees stirred, the other not. Until malolactic fermentation was complete. After 10 months in barrel the wine was racked off lees and blended to tank and bottled shortly after.
It's a bright gold colour. Aromas of tropical fruit, nut and spice notes, full weighted on the palate, glossy, rich and round with a tangy citrus finish.
487 bottles filled.
2023 Chardonnay High Eden Road
The following vineyards make an appearance to form our current release.
*Hoffmann DV Mickan Block Shiraz - Adrian Hoffmann.
*Wilton Hill Old Vine Shiraz Eden Valley - Joel Mattschoss.
*Marsen Springs Eden Valley Pinot Noir - Tony Walker.
*BVD Road Block Shiraz - Ebenezer.
*The Starship Block Shiraz - Flaxman Valley.
The fruit was hand harvested at various beaumes ranging from 300kg to 700kg parcels. The majority going through whole cluster fermentations. One small parcel was de-stemmed, hand plunged on skins for five weeks and Basket Pressed. All transfers in the cellar made gently via gravity and the wines put to French Oak Barriques with inclusion of one seasoned Hogs Head for a 17 month elevage in our cool cellar.
A Barrique of the previous years 2021 Dero, and the sister Barrique of 2021 Le Bomb both wonderfully stood the test of time in the cellar and are included in the blend.
Dero was bottled at the end of winter without fining or filtration with only a small addition of S02.
This release saw ruthless barrel selection, using only eight barrels of the sixteen available to give us a mere 1800L blend of the best wine we could produce.
In our opinion 2022 Dero is a broody, bright and slick rendition that comes to life with a good whiff of air and sits stylistically between the 20 & 21 releases. With a slight elevation in packaging such as a new bottle, Diam Tradition 30 and a little wax to top it off!