Awards and Accolades

2014 Vintage: 92 Points - James Halliday, Australian Wine Companion
"A 60/40% blend of sangiovese and pinot noir, crushed and chilled to a closed airbag press for 24 hours skin contact, clear juice fermented with special fruit enhancing yeast for cool fermentation, 3 months on lees. Pale pink, it has a gently fragrant red fruit bouquet followed by a palate that has considerable finesse, length and purity, finishing dry, but fruity. All works very well."

From the Winery:

The Sangiovese was selected from two vineyards, one vineyard in Charleston and the other in Langhorne Creek. The Pinot Noir Vineyard was situated in the outskirts of Gumeracha. The Sangiovese vineyard ripened evenly and slowly to produce elegant fresh fruit characters with lively natural acidity while the Pinot Noir was added to complement the cherry and strawberry characters with hints of savouriness.

Crushed, de-stemmed and chilled to air bag press as a blend of both varieties, the grapes were then pressed within the hour to minimize colour pickup from the skins. A portion of the juice was then fined and settled for 72 hours until clear and was then racked for ferment while the remaining portion was fermented on full solids. The juice was inoculated with a fruit enhancing yeast and fermented at cool temperatures to preserve the natural fresh fruit characters. The wine was bottled early to preserve the delicate fresh fruit characters.

The Chain of Ponds winery was established in 1985 on the outskirts of Gumeracha, approximately 4km from the original township. While vineyards have been part of the makeup of the area since colonisation, the Chain of Ponds Winery was the first major planting of any note in the northern area of the Adelaide Hills Wine region.

The winery has more recently extended the vineyard boundaries to source fruit from a much broader area of the region, which has added further complexities and subtleties to the wines themselves. Chain of Ponds produces a wide range of products and varieties which are perfectly suited to this cool climate region. It has earned its status as a 5 red star winery in James Halliday's Australian Wine Companion 2013.