South By South West Chardonnay 2022

The inspiration for this wine is easy. Chardonnay loves Margaret River, and Margaret River loves Chardonnay. Our love for Chardonnay is unconditional, and with love comes great respect – a respect for Margaret River as one of the best locations to grow Chardonnay in Australia. Along with a respect for the individual traits of the differing Chardonnay clones grown in the region, the subtle variance of terroir, and particularly the vintage conditions which we’re dealt. Ultimately this all then combines to a great respect for the critical role of winemaking great fruit into brilliant Chardonnay.

Stylistically, we say the 2022 Chardonnay is a contemporary Margaret River Chardonnay with a classical edge.

The inspiration for this wine is easy. Chardonnay loves Margaret River, and Margaret River loves Chardonnay. Our love for Chardonnay is unconditional, and with love comes great respect – a respect for Margaret River as one of the best locations to grow Chardonnay in Australia. Along with a respect for the individual traits of the differing Chardonnay clones grown in the region, the subtle variance of terroir, and particularly the vintage conditions which we’re dealt. Ultimately this all then combines to a great respect for the critical role of winemaking great fruit into brilliant Chardonnay.

Stylistically, we say the 2022 Chardonnay is a contemporary Margaret River Chardonnay with a classical edge.

2022 in Margaret River was a great vintage and proved once again that even years are great vintages for the region! Things took a while to kick off with a cool, wintery spring and significant rainfall in October delaying the onset of budburst and flowering in the vineyards. Flowering and fruit sets were on the lighter side resulting in slightly lower yields due to the spring conditions over the growing season and the one prior.

Summer was influenced by another La Niña season – beautifully dry, warm, sunny days right through December, January and February which lessened the disease pressure that was experienced with the wet and humid conditions of the previous vintage. Veraison was delayed by around a month, but the consistent heat saw a rapid ripening period in the whites, and the dry weather allowed for predictable ripening patterns across most varieties which made for a very organised and well-planned vintage.

Bird pressure was also low this vintage with perfectly timed Marri blossom which provided enough of a distraction to keep the silvereyes busy. The only challenge in the vineyard was the scorching Christmas heat wave resulting in some sunburn on exposed white bunches which lowered the crop when they were dropped off prior to harvest. Yields were also lower than expected, influenced by the very dry conditions – especially for the vineyards which are dry grown which took a hit with lower bunch weights and smaller berries.

The fruit for this single vineyard Chardonnay was sourced from a grower in the very northern part of the Yallingup subregion. The more northern site and the warmer weather made for perfect ripening conditions. The fruit was hand harvested in the early hours of the morning on February 18, slightly later than normal years due to the cooler spring and the delayed flowering. This chardonnay is 100% Gingin clone and in 2022 the fruit presented with its typical small bunches with a significant portion of chicken berries to hens which kept the acid levels up and allowed flavours to develop further on the vine. This vineyard typically yields low, and the significantly higher proportion of chicken to hen berries further reduced the yield – but to the benefit of concentrated quality fruit.

On the whole, our general take on vintage 2022 is that wines will be characterised by intense aromatics, plush concentrated fruit, great structure and depth of flavour driven by good natural acidity. Even with the warmer conditions, the delicacy and elegancy was not compromised. A stunningly epic vintage.

The hand harvested fruit was refrigerated for 24 hours and cooled down before being whole bunch pressed direct from press to an even mix of new, one year old and two year old French oak barriques. It remained on solids for 9 months prior to racking to tank and bottling in January 2023. Regular stirring of the lees through fermentation was conducted but not carried on after fermentation, and malolactic fermentation was cut off in barrels based on taste.

In a glass the wine presents with a vibrant straw tinged yellow. The nose is flinty with lifted intense varietal characteristics of citrus and stone fruit combined, and complimented by pretty white flowers. The palate expresses a minerally liveliness of stone fruit, with some oyster shell, and saline notes with well-balanced natural acidity and complexity.