Vintage
2019
ABV
13.5%
Wine Type
White
Wine Style
Still
Wine Description
This single-block wine is sourced from just 0.7 ha of 21-year-old gently sloping Chardonnay vines within the 2.76 ha Farrago block. The mottled appearance of the clay soil in the Farrago block is caused by a high percentage of ironstone pebbles, much like the Ferrous vineyard. This siliceous influence helps infuse the resulting wines with linearity and minerality.
The fruit was gently whole-bunch pressed directly into French oak barriques (18% of which were new), and fermentation occurred spontaneously with ambient yeasts. Following fermentation, the wine was aged on lees (without battonage) for 11 months and the wine was racked only once, directly prior to bottling. The wine was bottled without fining and with minimal filtration.
The hallmark fruit characters are present – yellow grapefruit and mandarin peel. Savoury interest comes from notes of fresh nuts and almonds, and gingery spice.
A powerful linear acidity drives long into a pithy grapefruit rind finish. Citrus flavours appear on the palate, together with a touch of oak spice and some complexing sulphides. Length, balance and powerful acidity.
Accolades
The Halliday Australian Wine Companion – 95 points
Wine Pilot – 95 points
The Winefront – 94 points
Winemaker's Bio
Glen Hayley’s winemaking philosophy is driven by authenticity; wine that speaks of place, preserving the character of the fruit and celebrating the vineyard in which it was grown. It is the fine balance between scrupulous attention to detail and minimal intervention that allows wine to fully express provenance. Glen’s passion for natural fermentation techniques extends beyond wine to sour beer, cider and fermented food.
Serendipity saw Glen discover the world of wine. A job in the industry on a gap year in Vancouver offered an addictive glimpse of his future vocation. Returning to Melbourne, Glen completed a Bachelor of Viticultural Science and Wine Production, while working in cool and warm climate wineries across Australia, France, Germany, New Zealand and the USA. His time with premium new world Chardonnay and Pinot Noir producers in Central Otago and Sonoma County, along with a concentration on white wines in the Loire Valley and the Mosel, helped shape his thinking.
His desire to focus on Pinot Noir and Chardonnay saw Glen join Kooyong and Port Phillip Estate in 2009. In 2015 Glen became Chief Winemaker.
The viticulture and winemaking teams at Kooyong and Port Phillip Estate are intensely collaborative. The team includes chief viticulturist Stuart Marshall and David Merli and winemaker Christian Bradshaw.
