Secret Deal MO Mornington Peninsula Chardonnay 2021

A great year across the Mornington Peninsula has given this wine extra fruit intensity whilst retaining classic cool climate balance and freshness.

Bright pale gold. Fresh citrus and stonefruit with savoury herb, sea spray and oyster shell notes. Youthful and intense with spicy yellow fruit drive, light toasty oak, notes of fig, pear and apple, and balancing limey acidity on a dry, savoury finish.

Winery Notes:

Winemaking: Hand picked and whole bunch pressed in our membrane press, to maintain maximum fruit and minimum extraction of hard skin tannins. Mild juice oxidation is undertaken at ambient temperatures (15-20 degC) to polymerise and further remove undesirable tannins, prior to any sulphur dioxide addition. We can do this because of the undamaged grapes being received directly from the vineyard immediately adjacent to the winery. This also removes potential precursors for undesirable browning with barrel maturation and bottle ageing. Grapes from the multiple (about 10) picking dates that are blended into the final wine, ranging from sparkling wine ripeness less than 10 Be to give acidity, steeliness, mid ripeness for melon and then citrusy flavours, and then high ripeness for the peach, nectarine spectrum. Settled at ambient temperature and racked at the onset of spontaneous fermentation with a very small amount of light lees, some cultured yeasts are also used to ensure fermentation to total dryness. Fully barrel fermented at (low) ambient temperatures to attain creamy mouthfeel and maximise palate length. This wine has undergone 100% malolactic fermentation, which we feel has added further complexity and vinosity.

Winemaker’s Note: Retained on fermentation lees, in the same barrel for a year, this does not lead to excessive oak characters, instead it allows full oak integration, development of complexity and depth and mouthfeel. The oxidative handling results in remarkable colour stability in this wine. The energy input into our winemaking is genuinely extremely low due to the total absence of refrigeration and minimum of heating required for processing and fermentation control. Our cool climate and small scale is a great contribution to this.

Tasting Profile