Sutherland Chardonnay 2010

This wine has a beautiful light straw colour with hints of green. The nose shows pure marmalade fruit and complex yeasty flavours in a nice harmony with toasty oak. The palate is clean and pure with a lovely texture and finishes long.

Maturation

Drinking well, and will develop for 3 more years.

Food Pairing

Mild risottos, chicken salads and seafood dishes.

Winemaker's Comments

Fresh citrus flavours combine brilliantly with subtle toasty oak. This wine has pure, clean fruit, leaving a fresh finish. This wine shows surprising complexity for such a young wine. Will age gracefully.

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Tasting Notes

Viticultural Practices

Varietal	Chardonnay – Clones CY 270, CY 548A, CY 95/96 and 277D
Root stock	Richter 110 and 101 – 14 Mgt
Soil type	Tukulu
Age of vines	Planted August 2004
Plant density	2300 – 2500 vines/ha
Trellising	7 wire Perold with moveable foliage wires
Pruning	Spur pruning
Yield	11 t/ha
Irrigation	Drip irrigation
Vintage	One of the more difficult vintages in recent years. Warm spells of weather, with random rainy periods during the ripening period.
Picking date	12th – 22nd February 2010
Grape sugar	22.5 – 23 °B
Acidity	6.5 – 7.0 g/l
pH at harvest	3.25 – 3.3

Winemaking Practices

Yeasts	Davis 522
Fermentation temp	19 °C
Method	Alcoholic and malolactic fermentation in 228 L French oak barrels. The wine spends 10 months on its gross fermentation lees, with the lees being stirred every fortnight.