Nestled in the heart of the Adelaide Hills is the picturesque Piccadilly Valley, and with its unique cool climate, pre-historic soils and altitude, it just happens to be one of the best places in Australia to produce world class Chardonnay.
The fruit for the 2012 Kastambul Chardonnay was hand harvested on a cool, misty Adelaide Hills morning on March 23rd. The small bunches of premium fruit were carefully sorted, selected and placed into 400kg picking bins and transported directly to the winery, where the fruit was tipped into the bag press to allow gentle whole bunch pressing. The pristine free run juice was then cold settled overnight prior to being racked into a mixture of new and seasoned French oak barriques.
Each barrel was allowed to warm naturally, and wild yeasts commenced fermentation. Two barrels were then inoculated with selected yeast strains to compliment the naturally occurring fermentations. Towards the end of ferment, all barrels were held at 18 degrees to encourage partial secondary fermentation. Once the ideal balance was achieved, the wine rested on yeast lees for a further nine months to gain extra complexity.
After ten months in French oak, the barrels were meticulously racked, blended and sent to bottling without filtration.
Bright pale straw in colour, the 2012 Kastambul Chardonnay shows delicate hints of white peach, cashew and melon fruits with a touch of flint and funk from natural fermentation. The palate is fine and balanced, with an elegant touch of oak complementing the primary fruit flavours and fine acid structure.
