Sutherland Chardonnay 2012

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 4 more years.

Food Pairing

Mild risottos, chicken salads and seafood dishes.

Winemaker's Comments

Fresh citrus flavours combine brilliantly with toasty, creamy oak. This wine has pure, clean fruit, leaving one with a lovely 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	16.32 t/ha
Irrigation	Drip irrigation
Vintage	Dry season with cool weather during the ripening period resulting in ideal conditions for production of elegant, well balanced white wines
Picking date	12th – 28th February 2012
Grape sugar	23.51 °B
Acidity	6.05 g/l
pH at harvest	3.45

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.