CELLAR DOOR

PALATE

The wine has layers of creamy white stone fruit, mint fudge and lime zest. There is a lasting Moroccan lemon and mineral component, consistent with previous vintages from these 38 year old Chardonnay vines. It is a very detailed wine, lacey and tightly coiled. The concentration and purity of the fruit grown on grey sandy clay loam soil is evident, especially in 2024. This is a very layered and refreshing Chardonnay that can be enjoyed now but will also reward careful cellaring.

VINTAGE

The 2024 growing season began with stable weather and nice cloud cover coupled with moderate evening temperatures during Spring. However, December to February presented heavy rainfall up to 70mm prior to the critical flowering period. Being located further down in elevation proved crucial during this time as the Dexter vineyard retained good quality fruit and concentration. Cool temperatures during late summer produced ideal ripening and the grapes retained high levels of natural acidity along with great concentration of flavour.

WINEMAKING

Each clone on our single vineyard site was picked separately at optimal ripeness. This was followed by gentle whole-bunch pressing into separate tanks. Juice was then transferred to 500L French oak puncheons (20% New, 30% second use, 50% older) to undergo fermentation. During maturation the barrels were stirred occasionally depending on their flavour profile. Some barrels went through natural malolactic fermentation. For this vintage, 50% completed MLF. The wine was left on yeast lees until December to develop structure; it was then transferred to tank to prepare for bottling. The wine was bottled early January 2025, 11 months after harvest.