Bob Campbell MW 96 points.
ONLY 576 BOTTLES MADE.
An exotic nose of baking spices, pear, peach and cashew. This single block
Chardonnay naturally builds on the palate initially with ripe fruits,
beautifully restrained by fine-grained oak and integrated acidity. A long
flowing wine ready now, or age for up to ten years for increased complexity.
Erin's Chardonnay grows on our steepest and highest slopes, in limestone soils which impact a beautiful minerality and tension to the wine. The block is 100% Mendoza clone, its natural acidity is a perfect companion for
the limestone soils. The small berries and thick skins from 2018 have created a wine with concentration and fine phenolics which add to the structure of the wine.
Variation between the top and bottom of the slope adds layers of different flavours to the fruit and texture of the resulting wine. Extensive leaf plucking and bunch thinning ensured balanced crop loads and even ripening.
WINEMAKER’S NOTES
We hand picked our steepest block of Mendoza Chardonnay before a gentle
whole-bunch pressing to tank without additions. We allowed the juice to settle
overnight before we racked to French oak barrels for wild fermentation and full
malo-lactic fermentation. The extended nature of fermentation brings not only
richness to the wine but also layers and complexity. Barrel ageing lasts 15
months before the wine was estate bottled without fining.
