Yabby Lake chardonnays are amongst the most awesome Australia has to offer. They are quite Euro-centric and graceful in style exhibiting spicy white stone fruit aromas, along with a lick of vanilla, and a twist of James brown 'funk'. The palate is fine and focused with tighly-wound acidity, a minerally texture and a dry, grapefruity finish. It's a gift that keeps on giving the longer it is in the glass, and it's totally cellar worthy.
Awards and Accolades
96 Points - James Halliday, Australian Wine Companion "40% Mendoza clone, 40% P58, 20% B76. A fragrant and pure bouquet leads into a supremely elegant, understated palate that departs from Mornington Peninsula orthodoxy by preventing mlf and relying on natural acidity, steps that will underwrite the longevity of the wine."
2013 Vintage: 93 Points - Mike Bennie, Wine Front "Subdued funk in the wine, a flare of matchsticky scent, but the wine smells more like stone fruit, ripe apples, sandalwood. Has a bouquet that seems serious, but without needing to assert itself too heavily. Good. Fine feeling wine to taste – racing stripes of acidity and ripe citrus flavours, a cool centre of stone fruit and fine chalky, flinty, saline flecks throughout. Very easy to drink, filigree in streaks of mineral-like feeling detail and fruit/acid mix, trim and yet juicy to drink. Lovely feel, perhaps set to drinking earlier than other releases of this wine."
From the Winery
Winter of 2014 was colder and drier than normal leading to a warm, dry spring that saw good even bud break and consistent healthy shoot growth. A cooler than average summer coupled with good rain at the right times saw consistent, healthy growth in all blocks. The season proceeded in a very even and pleasing fashion. A very cool dry March led to a longer ripening period allowing for maximum flavour development with good rain occurring at the right time to maintain vine health.
Harvest started on 18 February and the 2015 vintage proceeded exceptionally well. With the ripening period so even, all fruit was picked in optimum condition. All the fruit arrived at the winery in excellent condition with excellent fruit flavours and terrific natural acidity. Early indications are that the 2015 vintage will be as good as the highly regarded 2010 and 2012 vintages.
Our philosophy is to craft a chardonnay of great purity, reflecting our site and the season in which it was grown. It’s the attention and care in the vineyard that is most critical to allowing that expression.
Each parcel of chardonnay was carefully handpicked on 28 February (Blocks 1 & 4) and 3 March (Block 6), in pristine condition. Every parcel was handled separately in the winery, with minimal intervention. The chardonnay was crushed, pressed and transferred with solids, into tight grain 500L French oak puncheons (20% new) to undergo natural fermentation. It was then left to mature on lees for 11 months, without malolatic fermentation proceeding until bottling in February 2016.
