"Scents of vanilla and peach, gunflint and stony mineral, some toasty oak moments and layers of spice. Medium+ to full bodied with great texture and medium+ acidity, wild ferment suggestions of wils flowers and flinty mineral tones, vanilla and cream corn, medium+ oak and long detailed finish" Cameron Douglas, Master Sommelier, Feb 2017

"The powerful 2015 vintage (4*) is a single-vineyard, hand-picked wine, fermented and matured in barrels (33 per cent new). Pale gold, it is weighty and fleshy, with strong, peachy, toasty flavours, woven with fresh acidity" Michael Cooper

Delicate aroma’s of white flowers, hazelnuts and orchard fruits. The palate is reminiscent of baking brioche, mandarin zest with hints of butterscotch; good weight, textural, satisfying and long. This is a wine of layers and is a true expression of Waipara Valley Chardonnay.

The 2015 season was affected by late frosts at the beginning of budburst which in many cases led to a smaller crop than the previous vintage. The growing season was one of the hottest and driest for many years, verging on drought conditions across the region for many. In general winemakers were very happy with the fruit this harvest showing even ripeness and good condition.

The Kalex Waipara Valley Chardonnay 2015 fruit came from a small close planted hillside vineyard in the heart of the valley. The fruit was hand harvested, whole bunch pressed with no SO 2 added The separate parcels within the vineyard were picked and fermented in a mix of old and new barrels by wild yeasts. The wine was allowed to ferment to dryness was matured on it's lees and underwent partial malolactic fermentation in the spring, to develop more texture and maintain the delicate mineral notes typical of this Chardonnay site. The aim is that we produce a textural wine with rich aromas, chalky phenolics extract and long acidity, with enough succulence to balance the dryness of the wine After barrel maturation the complete wine was left on fine lees for 6 months before filtering and bottling.