2024 Viognier Chardonnay

Technical Details

Harvest Date 10th March, 2024 | Alcohol 13.2 | Standard Drinks 7.8

Wine Maker

Ben Dahlenburg, Mark Kelly, Eldorado Rd.

Maturation

Viognier was hand-picked on taste and the color of the berries which were golden. Lightly pressed to retain the purity of the variety and fermented in 2- to 5-year-old barrels. The Viognier is estate grown with the Chardonnay from the Antonello vineyard picked 1 week later and fermented separately and matured in 2-year-old oak both wines were then allowed to go through a malolactic fermentation. The wine has the lovely viognier notes of white peach and orange blossom whilst the chardonnay brings the length and crispness.

Background

The Viognier was planted in the second development of the vineyard undertaken in 2000. Two hectares of the Yalumba clone Viognier were grafted onto two different varieties of rootstock, Swartzman and Paulsen. Unfortunately the Swartzman did not survive the severity of the extended drought from 2005 – 2009. An area of 1.5 Ha remains, with a replanting program to replace the area lost undertaken during spring 2010. The vines crop at 1500kg / Ha and are spur pruned with the west side of the canopy left to sprawl and the east side lifted with wires to let the morning sun in. Chardonnay was purchased from the Antonello Vineyard in the Ovens Valley and was picked at field ripeness.

Vintage

The 2024 growing season started off dry but by the end of November, it started to rain. The rain continued throughout the mid parts of the season making vineyard management very important due to disease pressure. The vintage was cool also with no days registered over 40 degrees slowing the ripening down considerably and allowing the vines to express the flavors of the site. Little supplementary irrigation was required for the vintage and applied towards the end as the season. The vines remained healthy and disease-free.