Vintage

A wetter than average winter season followed by cool and windy conditions resulted in smaller than normal bunch and berry sizes allowing for concentration of grape flavours and high natural acids. A window of warm weather in early January provided extremely high quality white grapes, particularly Chardonnay and Semillon. Overall, a high quality vintage that is accessible young but will provide plenty of enjoyment after careful cellaring. 

Vineyard

Situated at our high altitude estate vineyard in Orange, 'Block 7 ' is 800m above sea level, ensuring a long cool ripening season perfectly suited to Chardonnay. The topography and soils of the Orange region are dominated by the extinct volcano Mt. Canobolas. The basaltic lavas of the old volcano have created soils that primarily consist of deep red to brown free-draining clay loams.

Winemaking

Hand harvested and transported to our winery in the Hunter, the fruit was gently pressed to 30% new oak where fermentation occurred naturally. The wine was matured in French oak for 6 months before it was moved to stainless steel to remain on lees for an additional two months to impart a more reductive nature. Gently fined and filtered before being bottled.