We had a very wet winter (between June and September) and a cool wet spring, which tested the mettle of our in-house viticulturist/ vigneron, AKA Joch. As a result of these trying conditions, vintage started later than in previous years (we picked Chardonnay on the 15th February in #v2023) and we had much smaller volumes than in 2022 or 2021. We had a few warm days in January and February and picked the whites quite quickly, then about 10mm of rain in early March which settled the dust and stopped picking for a little while. Despite the smaller vintage, the quality of grapes was excellent across both red and white varieties.

We pick at night when the grapes are cooler and bring them into the winery before dawn. how incredibly romantic! The grapes are pressed off their skins and pumped into barrel (new and French oak hogsheads – 500 litre barrels) to undergo a wild, natural ferment. We try our hardest not to let the wine go through MALO (MLF or malolactic fermentation) so that the wine retains its crisp natural acidity. Once ferment is finished the wine then spends about 6 months in oak before bottling.

• Halliday Wine Companion

  Organically certified 36-year-old vines; full barrel ferment, 20% new French, no mlf. There’s a pitch here towards yellow stone fruit over white, which is no surprise given the locale, but there’s also considerable harmony and poise. That fruit profile is what the combination of site and clone (I10V1) give, and the stewardship to bottle is suitably respectful. A subtle play of oak, with hints of spice and praline, enriches without intruding, the acidity of a cool year pleasingly keen.

  91 Points

  Marcus Ellis

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