Driftwood Wines Artifacts Chardonnay 2021

Description

Vintage was on!! Until – Ohhhh Mother Nature!!! And then came the rain…. A late summer deluge from the tropics came through and kept us on edge through early-February, although luckily, the grapes were not quite ripe enough to soak it all up and after a week or two drying out the Chardonnay followed by Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc came in beautifully. Just to make things interesting an unprecedented cyclone Seroja made its way down the west coast of WA during mid-April making the decision of harvesting all the remaining Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot easy. So that was it, fruit was in and looking cherry ripe making for another sensational vintage from the Margaret River region.

Winemaking

Gingin clone Chardonnay was sourced from Driftwood Estate and Church view Estate vineyards. The fruit was 57% handpicked and 43% machine harvested with physiological ripeness. Hand-picked grapes were harvested in the cool of the early morning, whole bunch pressed to tank and immediately transferred to barrel whilst machine harvested fruit was harvested during the cool of the night, processed to tank for settling then racked to barrel and tank for fermentation. 30% new French oak barrels were used along with 1st year and 2nd year French oak barrels. In late October the batches were blended in preparation for cold and heat stabilisation, filtration and bottling in November 2021.

Colour: Brilliant lemon straw.

Aromatics: Complex layering of crisp grapefruit, fresh peach, curry leaf, pine nuts, elderflower, and blossom.

Palate: The palate has a creamy texture with superb length balanced by natural mineral acidity and high-quality French oak.

Oak Maturation: 57% Barrel, 43% Tank for 9 months (30% new French oak).

Ageing Potential: Drink now to 10 years.

WINEMAKING DATA

Geographical Indication: Margaret River

Harvest Date: 13th February – 23rd February

pH: 3.18

Titratable Acidity: 7.6 g/L

Residual Sugar: 1.5 g/L

Alcohol: 12.6%