Our Chardonnay grapes are hand picked when the tasting is right. Every year the timing is different and the 2016 vintage was very early, by almost two weeks. The grapes are gently whole bunch pressed, allowed to partially settle overnight and then transferred to barrel where natural yeast fermentation will kick off after 4-6 days. This vintage we have introduced some larger Hoshead barrels which will finer elegance but with lesser obvious oak input.
The photo shows a Grace barrel from Tonnelerie D'Aquitaine which is a mix of some very ultra fine grain oak from France. Hopefully our resultant wine will live up to its barrel namesake!
Pinot Noir influorescence at flowering - Nov 24th
Pinot Noir MV6 clone -day before picking
