2022 Chardonnay

Chardonnay is winemaker Andrew Windsor’s favourite white wine to make. He keeps it natural (no added yeast), barrel fermented, robust (aged 16 months in new and neutral oak barrels), and loooonnnnnngggggg. The result is a well-balanced, beautiful, cool-climate Chardonnay that keeps on giving!

TASTING NOTES:
Deep straw yellow colour shows the impact of time in French oak. The nose is sweet with ripe tropical fruits, lemon, pineapple, and grapefruit. The 2022 Chardonnay has a wonderful richness, with golden apple on the palate, lemon meringue, dash of nutmeg and anise. The finish has a little bit of grip to give the wine generous body and texture.

WINEMAKING NOTES:
Hand harvested fruit was picked over a two-week period to get a range of ripeness starting in late-September. The fruit was whole cluster pressed and the settled in tank, before being transferred to a mix of French barriques and puncheons. The wine was allowed to ferment naturally and completed MLF by late February. We then let it mature in oak for a total of 16 months before racking and light filtration.

WINEMAKER’S COMMENTS:
Winter was long, spring even longer. Cold and wet all the way into July. Luckily for us, August showed up with aplomb. We had the warmest August on record in the South Okanagan, and it began a run of weather that “saved the vintage”. There was a 6 week stretch of near-perfect weather, and week by week we started to see the vines catch up and reach near-perfect maturity. Slowly but steadily each variety started to come into form and ripeness. Harvest lasted well into November. The wines are fantastic!

NOTES:
Production – 464 cases produced
Alcohol – 13.0%
Varietals – 100% Chardonnay
Vinification – hand-picked, whole clusted pressed, settled in tank, and then fermented naturally in a mix of new and neutral French barriques and puncheons. Aged 16 months before racking and light filtration
Cellaring – cellar up to 10 years