Sticks Yarra Valley Chardonnay 2019 (Australia)

Description

• French oak
• Nectarine
• Smoky flint
• Hazlenut

Pale straw yellow. Pear drop and nectarines with almond meal and a touch of smoky flint; on the palate there’s a subtle but juicy citrus tang with fresh camomile and toasted hazelnut.

This wine is drawn from two vineyards on our home patch of Yarra Glen plus a small proportion from a higher altitude vineyard in St Andrews, just up the hill. These three vineyards have a multitude of Chardonnay clones that help to build complexity into the wine. The grapes were picked with relatively low sugar levels (11.5 Baume on average) in 2019 as flavour development came on early.

A dry and warm start to the growing season had us planning an early start to vintage. The season was slowed by much needed December rain which also provided lush canopies to ripen the fruit. Although overall 2019 was warm, cool nights helped retain the acid required to keep the resultant wines fresh and crunchy while also packed full of flavour.

The fruit was pressed first into stainless steel tank before being transferred to a mix of seasoned French oak and stainless steel tanks for fermentation. Two-thirds of the blend was fermented and matured in oak for ten months on lees, and half of that went through malo-lactic fermentation. The wine was assembled in January 2020 and allowed to integrate in tank for four months before bottling.