The Wine
The grapes were picked early, just after the green tart characters had disappeared. The fruit was whole bunch pressed, the juice was minimally settled then fermented in only old French oak barrels. Ben aims for the complexity of the barrel fermentation characters to come through rather than new oak characters. Once ferment had finished the wine was left on less for four months. This has resulted in a wine that is higher in natural acid, which aids in giving the "Cold Chalk" its flinty, steely edge and chalky mouthfeel, without compromising the purity of the fruit in both flavour and aroma.

The Vineyards
"During the past couple of vintages, Ben has been searching for the perfect fruit to make a dry Chardonnay renowned for the purity of its aroma and taste. "Donald's" vineyard situated just outside Littlehampton in the Adelaide Hills, is where he found it - a cool-climate vineyard located in an area which is 2.5 degrees cooler than McLaren Vale on average, and is home to approximately 3 acres of high quality Chardonnay vines. Planted on free draining, brown loam with ironstone soils on a gentle east facing slope, the vines are North/South facing. The 14 year old vines are set to a vertical shoot positioning, and made up of the ANTAV 84 clone."

The History
As a young winemaker travelling the globe, the "OldWorld" Chardonnays that Ben fell in love with in the 1980's were described as 'like drinking cold chalk soup', and have inspired him to make this beloved Adelaide Hills Chardonnay.

 

 

$22.00 per bottle

Closure
Stelvin

Winemaker
Ben Riggs

Grape Variety
100% Chardonnay

Growing Region
Adeladie Hills

Date Bottled
9-Nov-2009

% Alcohol
12.5%

Residual Sugar
1.9g/L

Acidity
7.06g/L

pH
3.08

High Res Photo
Click here to download.