You’re in Treeton now. It’s a weird little area full of hillbillies, dairy cows and interestingly some great Chardonnay vineyards. It’s cold at night and warm in the day, with deep silver/grey sands that we think produce lovely Chardonnay. This exciting new wine is grown on two Treeton vineyards: the original and favourite Tassell Park and a new vineyard called Victory Point.
It sounds a little trite but 2018 was yet another excellent Margaret River Chardonnay vintage (it’s Gods own country after all!). It exhibits similarities to 2017 with great acid line and verve but with fuller, richer fruit weight. The season was early yet as usual these vineyards were some of the last picked on 21st and 24th February - some three weeks earlier than 2017.
The grapes were harvested by hand and whole bunch-pressed directly to new, one- and two-year-old puncheons with a smattering of barriques for good measure, with no settling or fining processes. This juice was then very carefully neglected and allowed to undergo spontaneous fermentation which kicked off on day five after pressing. After a four-week ferment the wine remained on gross lees, unsulphured until August of that year. In November the wine was emptied from barrel, settled, filtered and bottled.
This wine is super cool, just like its new label and its owners! It’s pale green, with more weight and phenolic grunt than its SV big sister - but oh! that texture and length of flavour is to die for. It smells of blossom and gunfights. – Alana & Julian Langworthy