2021 'Issy's Upper Yarra' Chardonnay
Limited stock available.
Best served slightly chilled, Issy’s Chardonnay has lithe texture, a flicker of phenolic grit and core of mineral acidity guiding the wine. There’s curd, lime skin, melon and quince over complex sulfide and fine, integrated mealy oak.
Use offer code ROLLING6 to receive 10% off any 6 or 12 pack.
“One of our favorite grape varieties to work with is Chardonnay. And 2021 was without doubt a classic Chardonnay vintage in the Upper Yarra Valley. ”
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Sourced from the Primavera vineyard in Woori Yallock, off the lower yielding and elevated (220m) easterly corner of this 3 acre block. The clone is P58 and soil is red, merging into grey volcanic clay loam.
All fruit was handpicked in the second week of March when flavor, sugars and acidity were in sync and ready to go. Every bunch was meticulously handsorted on the tractor and again back at the winery before processing.
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A single pick bin, ½ to ¾ full of grapes was destemmed to small open pots and wild fermented on skins for 3 days before draining and pressing directly to old barriques. The remaining portion of fruit was gently whole bunch pressed, with free run juice filling our finest new (23%) and aged large format oak. The harder pressed portion was run to tank, fridged and settled off solids before racking to neutral 500L puncheons for fermentation.
All barrels were fermented evenly and cooly using wild yeast, and none of our barrels went though MLF. We opted to stir some quality lees in our favorite puncheon over the winter months, encouraging the slightly flinty sulfide - a character you may pick up in the finished wine?
After 9 months on lees, we blended only 1000L to tank. The final blend comprises 4% skins ferment, 70% pressed to barrel (free run) and 26% pressed to tank (no solids).
Once in tank, the wine was settled for one month prior to bottling in December 2021 without fining, filtration or further tinkering.
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94 Points, Halliday Wine Companion, Ned Goodwin MW
