The 2021 growing season was a true roller coaster with a great result in the end ! It began with a wet spell and a later then average bud burst. Thankfully the spring weather improved in November with mild dry and warm weather allowing for perfect flowering and set. From the outset we realized the yield would be excellent and the consistency of set indicated a great year ahead. This proved the case ! A mild, dry December was followed by a wet January which kept the vineyard team busy. However the weather changed again for the better with a warm (but not hot) February and only 4mm of rain ! This enabled the fruit to ripen at an even pace and we commenced picking in the third week of February. The bunches were of good size and weight with lovely intense fruit flavours and comprised of beautiful natural acids. The wines are looking bright, and energetic in their youth. The 2021 releases will have that lovely balance of fruit weight, complexity, line and length. An excellent/benchmark vintage.

Appearance is brilliant pale straw and the nose is immediately full of lemon, lime, curd, honey and toasty oak and is wonderfully complex. The palate brims with rich white peach, lemon balm and beautiful fruit concentration. This is a long and delicious wine with fine and delicate acidity, the oak framing the detailed fruit profile. This wine is sure to age gracefully over 8-10+ years in bottle.

On the 20th of February 0.9t of grapes were handpicked from the low yielding protected Reserve Chardonnay site. After hand-picking, the grapes were cooled overnight then whole-bunch pressed the following morning. Pristine but very cloudy juice was then transferred with full solids into French oak, one new 300L hogshead and one used 225L barrique. Indigenous fermentation in barrel lasted around one month and the new barrel was allowed to pass through malolactic fermentation to enhance the finished wines fine saline/creamy/chalky complex. After 11 months in oak the wine was blended with full lees kept and bottled with minimal filtration. 48 dozen produced.