St. Andrews
Chardonnay 2014
Silky textured with exceptional length and flavours of peach, nectarine and subtle cashew nuances from quality French oak.
| Previous Vintages | 2013 |
|---|---|
| Region | Clare Valley |
| Colour | At release, the wine is a youthful pale straw colour with vibrant green hue to the edges. |
| Nose | The wine has ripe stone fruit aromas along with hints of tropical fruit and subtle citrus zest. Enticing sweet spice, cashew nut and a vanilla oak lift add complexity to the bouquet. |
| Palate | This is a medium-bodied yet sumptuous wine with an enjoyable creaminess to the mid-palate. Flavours of juicy, white fleshed stone fruit are evident along with cleansing citrus at the finish which has wonderful persistence and length from the use of quality French oak |
| Vintage Conditions | In the Clare Valley, the growing season saw average autumn and winter rainfalls on the Taylor family estate vineyards. Although spring was relatively dry, the vine vigour was still good due to the presence of subsurface moisture from the regular winter rain events and in addition the relatively calm conditions during the spring period reduced the evapotranspiration of the vines. Summer started dry and warm but not overly hot although from mid January to mid February this changed with very hot conditions prevailing until the 14th February when a downpour occurred, slowing the ripening of grapes considerably. Most of the Chardonnay was harvested prior to the rain and the quality of the fruit was outstanding. |
| Oak Maturation | The oak regime employed for this wine is 80% new & 20% 1 year old French oak (tight-grained which is air seasoned for 3 years), sourced from Louis Latour, a specialist Burgundian supplier. After 10 months of oak maturation, then minimal fining and filtration, the wine was bottled. |
| Cellaring Notes | Crafted for immediate enjoyment but will cellar over a medium term under ideal conditions. |