Chardonnay

The growing season was very kind with a mild spring and a warm summer.  A period of rain in the autumn caused some initial anxiety, but it was followed by fine weather enabling us to harvest optimally ripened, healthy fruit.   

Cool breezy weather in late spring and early summer impaired the pollination of the grape flowers and this resulted in a relatively small crop of chardonnay grapes forming on the vines.  The rest of the summer was excellent and the autumn was warm and dry.  The grapes were thus beautifully ripe and they were able to be picked in optimal condition.

Mild spring weather resulted in an early budburst and warmth during the vines flowering period led to a reasonable, but not excessive, crop of grapes “setting” on the vines. Good but not too hot summer temperatures produced even ripening while allowing the grapes to retain just the right level of natural acidity. Lingering sunny days in autumn allowed us to harvest beautifully, physiologically ripe fruit.

Cold weather over the period when the vines were in bloom meant that many flowers did not become fertilised and the eventual crop was small. The rest of the summer, however, was hot and the autumn long, lingering and dry. We were thus able to harvest beautifully ripe and healthy fruit.

Early and mid-summer were very hot, but the weather cooled later in summer.

Autumn was warm and lingering. The fruit ripened well, retaining good natural acidity. Chardonnay is the white grape of Burgundy and this wine was made using traditional Burgundian techniques.

Cool weather over the flowering period in the late spring resulted in a small crop of grapes setting on the vine. This has caused extra concentration in the wine. A hot summer meant that the grapes were quite well advanced when heavy rain occurred in the first week in April. This lead many people to pick early, but we chose to leave these grapes on the vine, allowing us to benefit from the several weeks of perfect weather which followed.