XVIII - CHARDONNAY 2017

Our XVIII Premium Chardonnay is the epitome of Chardonnay. While we nurture all of vineyard blocks, varieties and wines, our XVIII wines are the best in Class Chardonnay. While our entire vineyard is grown bio-dynamically and with minimal intervention, only the best rows of the best blocks of Chardonnay are selected to create this iconic wine. Then once we get this special fruit into the winery, each step of the winemaking is carefully done by Winemaker Frank Bonic and his cellar. Nothing is left to chance and yet at the same time the absolute minimum of intervention is used.
The grapes are harvested only in the very cool autumn mornings, then gently pressed to yield their golden nectar. This cold juice is left to settle for 2 days, then racked off of the grape sediment and allowed to start fermentation naturally, with just the natural micro flora that lives on the skins of the grapes in our bio-dynamic pesticide free, fungicide free vineyard.
The grape sugars are slowly converted into alcohol and a portion of our Chardonnay is allowed to go through Malolactic fermentation and depending on the different flavours we’re trying to achieve with the different batches, a portion may be allowed to develop in a vat that contains specially selected Oak staves to add complexity and extra layers of flavours. These specially selected staves are steam roasted – never burnt, as we believe that this introduces harmful energies into the wine.
When the fermentation is complete, the newly fermented juice (young wine) gently rests on the yeast and oak for the winter months to create the rich creamy texture that is the hallmark of our great XVIII Chardonnay.

Tasting Summary:
Luscious aromas of Brioche and baked apple exude from the glass, with fragrant honeydew melon, fig and buttery almond croissant following closely behind. Swirling the wine and bringing it into your mouth immediately provides a tremendous blast of seville orange, nashi pear, white nectarine as well as seductive vanilla oak nuances. There are nutty savoury undertones in amongst the wonderfully weighted palate then this wine extasy finishes with a sleek lingering lemon finish.