wine
2009 Brother's Ilk Chardonnay
Production:
Winemaking Notes by my Brother, Phil Lehmann, Winemaker:
Grapes were hand-picked and chilled overnight before whole-bunch pressing to French oak barriques for a wild ferment. Fermentation and subsequent aging in barrel on lees with regular topping and stirring for 12 months. No finings were used so this chardy is suitable for vegos and vegans.
The Vineyard: Jan & Theo Moskos’ vineyard at Birdwood in the Adelaide Hills has a lovely cool siting with well-draining light loam soils and an easterly aspect. The vineyard is planted with Bernard 76 & 95 clone chardonnay. Theo has had a lifetime tending apple and cherry orchards in the Hills and their deft touch coaxes the best from their vines.
Philosophy: Chardonnay is a versatile and noble grape variety, able to make fabulous wines when grown in the right sites and with sympathetic winemaking. The “Bernard” chardonnay clones 76 & 95 (selected from near Dijon) offer us a great leap forward in ultimate wine quality to many older planted chardonnay clones. They offer elegance in wine structure and powerful focussed flavours (rather than the often-encountered tropical/fat/oily type flavours with inferior planting material). Vineyard site is also vitally important, the best fruit coming from cool sites with well-drained soils, water availability just right – not too much for excess vigour and not too little (making the subsequent wine clumsy and coarse. With the winemaking I like chardonnay to be tight, fresh & elegant in structure and style. I love the flavours that fine French oak barriques can impart – with the proviso that the fruit flavours remain front & centre, with the oak merely there to provide added complexity and structure. Most of all the wine should be made to drink and enjoy rather than striving to provide a check-list glass of flavours to tick-off and tally!
Colour:
Pale green/gold straw.
Nose:
Delicate &
restrained
with underlying
power.
Preserved
lemon-peel,
fresh cream,
slight toast
and toffee
hints, yeasty
complexity.
Palate:
Terrific line and length.
Minerally and lithe palate with fresh lemon zest, understated creamy texture & a mouthwatering crisp finish (leaving you wanting for your next sip!).
Purchase:
3 bottle case
