Chardonnay 2017
Tasting Notes
The Bosworth Chardonnay is full flavoured and complex, with terrific length and lively acidity to balance the flavours. There are hints of stone fruit and citrus on both nose and palate, and along with the exceptional oak combine to make for a balanced and delicious wine.
Vintage
We had terrific winter and spring rains leading up to vintage 2017, a marked contrast to the previous year, proving once again if proof were needed, that every vintage is different. We had a cool early part to spring too, combined with the spring rain. Flowering was about 3 weeks later than the previous year which of course meant that vintage was 3 weeks later than normal, or as some old locals said sagely, back to the old normal. There was a very long and slow ripening period which is terrific for allowing grapes to develop their flavours. We had a pretty dry February March and April, once the spring rains finished in mid-January. Overall a late vintage with some incredibly promising reds and outstanding whites.
Winemaking
The Bosworth Chardonnay is made as if it is an only child, yet it is one wine of about 12 in the Bosworth range and it has heaps of cousins from the Spring Seed side of the family. As Joch’s favourite, it gets the best of everything; naturally fermented using the yeasts from the vineyard, it is picked then pressed into the best French oak hogsheads (300 litre barrels) which are sourced from a variety of coopers. The sugar to alcohol fermentation starts naturally, and once finished, the wine remains in barrel on yeast lees to add further complexity and texture. We try to stop the wine going through malolactic fermentation which turns the malic to lactic acid, as we want to preserve the natural acidity of the wine.
Other Vintages
Technical Details
Vineyards: Denton's and Chanticleer
Picking Date: 21st February 2017 and 3rd March 2017
Bottling Date: 9th October 2017
Alc/Vol: 13.0%