Clairault Estate Chardonnay 2014

Vintage Conditions

The Margaret River Wine Region has been blessed with eight great growing seasons in a row. Vintage 2014 started off with some late, heavy rainfall in September and two minor hail events in October, however, from here on, there weren't any significant weather events until a heat spike the week prior to Christmas. The entire flowering period occurred in warm, mild conditions resulting in good fruit-set across all varieties. Vintage conditions were ideal for ripening all varieties with little or no disease present and no rainfall pressures.

Winemaking Note

The fruit for our Estate Chardonnay is selected from our best blocks of fruit and hand-picked. The fruit is chilled and whole-cluster pressed to retain freshness and cultivate texture and structure. The juice is settled cold and racked after 2 days, harvesting only the lightest and most delicate grape solids to further aid in textural and aromatic development. The juice is barrel fermented in 40% new, 30% 2nd fill and 30% 3rd fill French oak barriques. The wine is sulphured pre-malolactic fermentation, in order to further preserve fresh fruit aromatics and pure acidity. It is then aged in oak for 9 months and battonaged every two weeks to develop texture and additional palate complexity, after which the wine is removed from barrel, clarified and bottled.

Accolades

GOLD - Perth Royal Wine Show 2016
96/100, 'Special Value Star' - James Halliday's Wine Companion 2017
93/100 - Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front, 2017
92/100 - Wine Enthusiast Magazine, 2018

Cellaring

This wine has already been cellared for you to enjoy now, but will continue to evolve if kept under suitable conditions.