Gilbert Nashdale Chardonnay

Gilbert Family Wines have their roots in the Eden Valley of South Australia, where Joseph Gilbert was one of the first to plant grapes. They still make high quality Rieslings there under the Gilbert + Gilbert label. Now, however, the majority of their wines come from the cool-climate and increasingly fashionable regions of Orange and Mudgee in New South Wales. Simon Gilbert established the winery in 2004 after working for more than two decades as winemaker for some of the top producers in the area. Simon and his son, Will, specialise in cool-climate wines with a common thread of elegance, purity and structure. This winery is right at the front of Australia's new wave, making a wide range of award-winning wines which balance traditional styles and techniques with the more experimental. This wine is from the Nashdale vineyard in the foothills of Mt Canobolas, Orange where the vineyards have soil rich in volcanic ash. At 930 metres above sea level, it is deep, well drained clay loam, and red and brown ferrosol soils derived from basalt. With Orange being the highest wine growing region in Australia, grapes grown here not only enjoy all the benefits of its cooler temperatures, and unique topography, but also benefit from over 9hrs per day of direct sunshine during the growing season. The combination of both the cooler climate and plentiful sunshine, is vital to the fruits ability to develop intense aroma and maintain flavour, giving these grapes a long mouth feel and flavour profile. Handpicked and sorted at harvest, these grapes were harvested in small lots in the early morning to take advantage of the cool morning temperatures to maintain optimal freshness. The fruit was whole-bunch crushed and pressed, separating the free-run from the pressings. Following this the juice was cold settled overnight without the addition of enzymes. Still with a high NTU, the high solids juice was racked to concrete egg and old neutral oak where primary fermentation took place. During this time no malolactic fermentation occurred with minimal bâtonnage. 9 months' maturation on full lees in concrete and old neutral oak, prior to being stirred and transferred to stainless steel for a further 6 months, still on full lees. Bottled in July 2020 it then spent a further 14 months in bottle prior to its release in September 2021. A high-quality white with complex smoky stonefruit notes, hints of nutty granola and preserved lemon. Rich, round and textural but with a mineral thread. A brilliant cool-climate Chardonnay which will get better and better.