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Wine Description
The Story
Blend: 100% Margaret River Chardonnay
Tasting Notes: Citrus oil, floral notes, dried pear and grapefruit aromas are well supported by subtle French oak. The palate is textured yet fine, finishing dry and savoury, this is a direct result of wild ferments with turbid juices. Drink as a young wine or cellar in the medium term.
Wine Information
Alcohol: 13.4 %
Acidity: 7.3 g / L
pH: 3.37
Vintage: 2018 was another idyllic vintage in Margaret River. The season began with a nice even budburst after average winter rainfall. A mild spring followed ensuring good flowering and fruit set. A moderate start to summer, with no heat extremes, set up the harvest well with white varieties displaying flavour intensity and bright acidity. There was an abundance of Marri blossom which meant bird pressure was practically non-existent whilst the whites were harvested. In summary 2018 will be remembered as an outstanding, if not great, Margaret River vintage!
Vineyards: The 2018 Chardonnay is a blend from four vineyards, two from the Wallcliffe sub-region, one from Wilyabrup and one from Treeton. The Wallcliffe parcels were from vineyards planted with cuttings from the famous Leeuwin Estate Block 20, This represents around 70% of the total blend. Remaining parcels comprise the highly acclaimed Gin Gin and 95 clones. Fruit was both hand picked (31%) and machine harvested (69%).
Winemaking: A mixture of clean and turbid juice was wild fermented in French oak puncheons (64%) and barriques (36%) using only free run juice. Ferment temperatures were around 18-25 degrees to promote and retain more primary fruit flavours. 30% of the wine was fermented in new oak, with the remainder fermented in second and third use French oak. This year we put 8% of the blend through MLF and stirred the lees every 4-6 weeks. A small percentage was whole berry fermented to provide a nice savoury complexity. The 2018 Chardonnay spent 9 months in barrel before blending, fining and bottling in January 2019.
Vintage 2018
AUSTRALIA: Very promising quality with the most optimistic reviewers declaring 2018 great in every region and for every variety. The more cautious view is that early frosts reduced yields, but that consistent good weather throughout the second half of the growing season actually resulted in great potential.
Barossa 2018 vintage to savor
The 2018 Barossa vintage was completed at the end of April 2018, with growers and winemakers satisfied with a high quality vintage and good yields.
“The flavors and colors of the reds are wonderful, and the natural acids in the Eden Valley whites surprisingly high, with early varieties this year including Riesling, Chardonnay, Shiraz, Grenache and Cabernet,” said Louisa Rose, head of winemaking at Yalumba.
The growing season is off to a good start, with winter 2017 precipitation about 10% above average. However, spring rainfall was only 78% of average in the Barossa Valley (BV) and 98% in the Eden Valley (EV), and December rainfall was only 57%. % of average in BV (88% in EV).
Drier soils, combined with warmer than average days in October and November (October 2ºC above average in VB (1.8ºC in EV) and November 1.1ºC above average in BV (1.6 ºC in EV), allowed the vine canopies to grow quickly, to flower well and to form a good number of clusters.
January and February were hot and dry, with very hot temperatures in February slowing the rate of ripening. January was slightly above average (1.4°C during the day but closer to average at night) and February was about average during the day, but with nighttime temperatures significantly warmer than average. average in the Barossa Valley (5.8°C warmer).
With summer rainfall at 50% of average, growers with access to water, soil moisture monitoring, good irrigation management and healthy soils experienced less stress – and subsequently delivered healthy fruit and consistent yields.
The Indian summer of March and early April was “the icing on the cake”, with average temperatures, without extremes, perfect for ending the vintage. The 28-30mm of rain on April 14-15 did not cause any major problems for picking – and was a welcome post-harvest watering for most Barossa growers.
Overall, in 2018, Barossa Valley crushed 56,970 tonnes*, down 22% from the 2017 vintage, but 9% from the five-year average. In 2018, Eden Valley crushed 11,593 tonnes*, down 3% compared to 2017.
The total Barossa crush of 68,563 tonnes* represented 9% of the total volume and 25% of the total crush value in South Australia.
Average prices for Barossa Valley varieties remained stable in 2018, with Shiraz at $2252 per tonne, down 1% from last year. At Eden Valley, the average price of Shiraz increased by 11% to $2636 per tonne and Cabernet Sauvignon increased by 15% to $2354.
*Wine Australia estimates the response rate for wine grape crush in South Africa to be 85%, so the actual total Barossa crush is estimated at between 75,000 and 80,000 tonnes.
