2018 Adelaide Hills Chardonnay

$49.99

The fruit for this wine comes from the exact location of my Great, great, great grandfather’s first property in Australia. Johann Frederick Muller migrated to South Australia in 1841 along with his two brothers; Auguste and Ferdinand. Like many early South Australian settlers, they were fleeing religious persecution in Prussia. In 1843, Johann and Auguste, along with 16 others, became the founding settlers of Lobethal, in the Adelaide Hills. They initially worked as blacksmiths and in 1853, Johann purchased his first farm. Whilst the property is no longer in the family hands, the oak tree he planted remains and is in the centre of a vineyard today. The label depicts the site and pays homage to Johann’s migration in 1841 and early days as a blacksmith. The grapes used for this wine came from the hill behind the house shown on the label.

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SKU: 2018Chardonnay Categories: ,

Description

2018 Vintage

2018 was a very good vintage in the Adelaide Hills; quite cool, with rainfall at all the right times for healthy growth and development of the vines. It was also a late season, meaning that the fruit ripened a couple of weeks later than usual, pushing the final stages of ripening into late March when the day time and night time temperatures are cooler. The benefit of this is a slower ripening, giving greater fruit intensity and also retaining higher levels of natural acidity.

In the vineyard

Planted with the Bernard clone, the vine rows run down the eastern aspect of a hill in an east-west orientation. This allows for good airflow as well as providing protection from hot afternoon sun. The grapes were hand-picked early in the morning when the temperatures were low and then whole-bunch pressed about half an hour later.

In the winery

There’s not a lot to write about the winemaking as the focus for this wine was a sense of place around the vineyard, not the winemaking. The fermentation took place in a mix of new and used French oak hogsheads using only indigenous yeasts. Partial malolactic fermentation was allowed to help build complexity and soften the natural acidity. No acid additions were made, nor any fining agents other than a small amount of bentonite to stabilise the wine. Minimal sulphur dioxide was used to retain freshness.

Food Match

Like all of our wines, this wine is vegan-friendly. Served slightly chilled as a refreshing aperitif with antipasto platters, the wine also goes well with white fish, crayfish and summer salads.

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