Onannon 'Tuerong' Chardonnay 2019

The wine comprises Chardonnay clone 95. The fruit was whole bunch-pressed and then sent straight to barrel (33% new oak) to ferment with indigenous yeasts. Of the three barrels, one was sulphured three weeks later after fermentation to prevent MLF; another was sulphured three months later after building some texture on gross lees. And the last barrel was left unsulphured all year to go through malolactic fermentation. All the barrels were stirred monthly. The wine was blended in early December, filtered and bottled in late December 2019.

“Chardonnay of line and length. It’s funky on opening but it quickly straightens up and settles down. White peach in all its pure glory; flint; the freshness of nectarine; the fibre of cedarwood runs towards nodes of woodsmoke. The finish is a spinnaker in which flavour is held. We are in beautiful territory here.”

Campbell Mattinson, Winefront