The fruit is mostly hand-picked, chilled overnight and whole-bunch pressed direct to barrel, with the other harvest done in the cool of the night to retain fruit aromatics. Half of the ferment was conducted by indigenous yeast. The wine was fermented in French oak (40% new) to dryness under controlled temperature conditions. A small portion (approx 25%) of the wine was allowed to complete MLF to retain its natural acidity and freshness.
'Finding those parcels takes a great deal of work. There is a fair bit of country to cover in search of the best fruit, but when that hard work pays off in the bottle, the memory of the miles travelled quickly fades.'
- Ray Jordan
"A wine of youthful exuberance, bright yellow colour with a healthy lustre. Nougat and caramel and limoncello, hazelnuts and vanilla. Lemon curd and seaspray, minerals largely eclipsed by rich and ripe fruit. Reduction is measured. Kudos to the winemaker."
94 points, The Real Review (February 2020)
"This is sourced from Pemberton, an area well suited to Chardonnay. Cereal and butterscotch aromas play with a little struck match and cashew. The palate is deeply intense and powerful, with tremendous persistence. Nice savoury finish completes a very good wine."
95 points, Western Australian Wine Guide 2020
Matchstick characters certainly make their presence felt, but the intensity of flavour and all-round complexity are most definitely upper echelon. This chardonnay has power, class and persistence in spades. It's smoky and reductive, but it's charged with quality ripe fruit and it's strung on pure acid lines. Beautiful.
95 points, Wine Companion (January 2020)
