2025 Reserve Chardonnay

Colour

Pale straw with green hue.

Aroma

Brioche, lemon cream and white florals are in abundance with subtle oceanic notes drifting in the glass. Toasted almond and biscuit characters from oak maturation are a supporting act to citrus driven fruit aromas.

Palate

Perfectly ripe stone fruit flavours merge with lime, elderflower and freshly baked sourdough. The palate is washed with a profoundly striking acidity that continues on in straight lines while the natural fruit sweetness and subtle reduction are interwoven on the finish.

Cellaring

Optimum drinking within three to eight years.

Vintage

Adequate winter rainfall in 2024 replenished vineyard dams and soil moisture as the region headed toward budburst. Moderate temperatures followed throughout spring ensuing healthy vine canopies with little disease pressure. This was followed by dry and warm conditions into summer while white varietals were picked. Netting was a logistical challenge due to a lack in regional marri blossom thus keeping birds out of the vineyard proved to add additional work for the vineyard team. The 2025 vintage again displays Margaret River's incredible consistency with wines of balance, seamless natural acidity and fruitfulness.

Winemaking

The assemblage of this wine is sourced from two premium northern Wilyabrup vineyards, with additional fruit from a pristine site in the southern subregion of Karridale. The fruit is 100% Gin Gin clone Chardonnay which is distinctive to the wines of Margaret River. Each site falls within 10km of the Indian ocean which cools the fruit zone within the vineyard canopy each afternoon. Hand picking began on the 20th of February with only select bunches delivered to the winery where it was chilled overnight to maintain pristine condition.

A minimalist approach in the winery included whole bunch pressing, wild fermentation and sparing lees stirring in a mixture of new (40%) and seasoned French oak barriques, hog's heads and puncheons. 100% juice solids were utilised in the fermentation process where temperatures ranged from 16– 25°C. Post fermentation each individual batch was topped and kept separate while aging further on lees for 9 months until the final wine was assembled through meticulous barrel selection.

Region

Margaret River

Variety

Chardonnay 

Clone

Gin Gin

Analysis

• Alcohol: 13.0%
• pH: 3.21
• TA: 6.60 g/L

Seared scallops with a lemon pepper butter topped with parsley.