(750ml) Adelaide Hills, SA

Our Bernard clones (76, 95) Chardonnay are grafted onto old Semillon vines at the southern end of the vineyard where it cools rapidly at nightfall, even on hot days. The block is relatively steep, and the soils loamy, gravelly and well-drained – perfect for Chardonnay. The fruit was machine-harvested on 27 March in the cool of night and gently pressed to minimise phenolic pick-up. After cold-settling, Warwick Billings our Chardonnay winemaker, vinified the clear juice at low temperature and then transferred it to new Chassin barriques to complete malo-lactic fermentation and gather more complexity. It was bottled and matured for 24 months before labelling and release. Expect to find fresh peach and lemon characters from this early-picked fruit, and smooth, smokey vanilla and coconut characters from the new barriques.