OPEN DAYS 2024
Saturday 5th and 12th October 10am to 4pm
2023 Isabella Chardonnay
As one of the earliest - if not the first - makers of chardonnay in the Yarra Valley and perhaps wider afield, we have seen a fascinating evolution of this variety.
Thankfully the days of the over-oaked, over-worked, over-ripe days are gone. Even the austere less ripe wines have disappeared. Australian chardonnay, has as a rule, returned to being a wonderful variety and a wine which reflects its provenance.
At Wantirna Estate though, we haven't raced after the trends, instead always continuing with our style which is probably summed up well by a review of the 2021 Isabella in Halliday:
Textured and structured, there's an old-vine creaminess to this classic 'old world' styled and totally lovely wine that, despite its richness, finishes fine and very long
The 2023 Isabella is somewhat similar in style to the 2021 - with almost exactly the same ripeness analysis. Beautiful natural acidity, and grapes that were golden and plump. The berries are lightly crushed, pressed before the juice goes to barrel for fermentation in the cool cellar.
No malolactic fermentation takes place, the old vines produce such fantastic fruit that the acid balances well with the richness of the wine.
Harvested 14th March 2023
Just 4 barrels made
$85
2022 Lily Pinot Noir
Ah the 2022 vintage. Such promise in terms of crop as the buds and flowers broke in spring. Then the bunches looked quite numerous. And that's where the happy yield story ends. The bunches were tiny, just so tiny. And the berries so mixed in size.
However.....the grapes that were there were beautiful, such terrific flavour, with the baby ones giving us pretty fruit flavours, the bigger ones delivering in nice tannins.
And the wine is just lovely. It has been in bottle for 18 months and it has been such a pleasure to watch the wine develop. Ripe berries, a richness on the palate, tannins that are delicate and that balance the wine so well, leading to just a lovely long finish. It is indeed a delicious wine now and will keep on developing those alluring savoury tones as the fruit evolves.
Harvested 11th and 12th March 2023
Just over a 1000 bottles made
$85
2022 Amelia Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot
Like the Lily, quantities were down in the vineyard. The final blend of grapes for the 2022 was 24% merlot / franc, 66% cabernet sauvignon and 10% petit verdot.
Really some lovely grapes with the merlot bunches bucking the seasonal trend and delivering plump hand sized bunches.
Our winemaking is similar across the Amelia varieties - de-stemming only rather than crushing, before fermentation in small open vats with hand plunging every eight hours. This pretty well controls any temperature spikes and the fermentation progresses calmly. We give the wine some extended time on skins post fermentation to allow the fruit to establish itself within the wine, and to enhance the tannins. This does give the wine some lovely savoury notes to balance our generous old vine fruit.
Violets, blackberries and blackcurrant intermingle with the nice tension of the oak and grape tannins. We use around 25% or less new french oak in this wine.
Harvested from 19th March to 1st April
Just 6 barrels made
$85
2022 Hannah Cabernet Franc Merlot
Instead of us telling you about the wine, here is the review from Philip Rich on the 2021 Hannah. Obviously this is a different vintage but the it's fair to say this sums up this year's wine in a nutshell!
A field blend of approximately 55/45% cabernet franc/merlot. Just so perfumed and elegant with its array of mainly red fruits together with wild rose, cedar, rosemary and sage. Even though it’s not a big wine, the fruit has already begun to swallow up the new oak. Medium bodied, this is both silky textured and structured with superfine and persistent tannins that simply melt in the mouth. A totally gorgeous wine from beginning to end and one that will provide enormous enjoyment over the next 10 to 15 years.
Harvested 19th March
Just 282 bottles made
$145
OPEN DAYS 2024
Saturday 5th and 12th October 10am to 4pm
Maryann
0412 589 490
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