Joan Chardonnay
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Joan Chardonnay
Chardonnay
It was a warm and dry year, even up in Piccadilly Valley in the Adelaide Hills. The fruit was hand picked over two occasions, one to retain acid and direction, the other for a fuller flavoured profile of pears, apple skins and preserved lemon peel. Coming to the winery it was whole bunch pressed to tank, and racked off the heavy lees into a mixture of new and old french puncheons (500 ltr) for fermentation. Fermentation took about 6 weeks to finish before going through full malolactic fermentation. Elevage of the Chardonnay was approximately 16 months in oak and then racked carefully to a stainless steel tank for a further 6 months, with a small addition of sulphur to tank before bottling. This wine shows power and drive with some great flavours of preserved lemon and quince and, firm acid and phenolic texture to make this a very long living wine.