2022 Reserve Chardonnay

Colour:Pale Straw.

Nose:The bouquet of this elegant, yet powerful Chardonnay displays fresh pear and lime characters with underlying hints of roasted cashews and frangipani adding complexity.

Palate:The sophisticated palate is medium bodied with a wonderful purity of fruit, offering pear puree, zesty grapefruit flavours and a quartz-like, almost crystalline, mineral edge to the structure. Pristine fruit and tangy natural acidity focus the wine to a crisp, lingering finish.

Varietal:Chardonnay

Vintage:2022

Region:Margaret River

Conditions:After a long, and relatively cold and wet winter, budburst was later than usual, and about a week or two later than last season. Spring brought about more wet and windy conditions, which also affected fruit set. Despite the late start to the season, the fantastic WA summer saw warm, fine weather and a few very hot periods, allowing the growing season to catch up. Marri trees had a bumper year for blossom, which always bodes well, distracting birds from away from the fruit (at least for the first half of the season while the blossom lasted). There was no significant weather pressure early in the vintage, in fact the warm conditions meant the whites were harvested at a frenetic pace to preserve natural acidity. Yields were relatively low however the fruit quality was excellent with great flavour intensity. In summary 2022 will be remembered as an outstanding vintage in Margaret River. 100% of the fruit for this Reserve Chardonnay is from our oldest Chardonnay vineyard, the Lagan Estate. The low yielding vineyard produces bunches with characteristic ‘hen and chicken’ architecture, typical of the Gingin clone. We encourage natural fermentation, on fruit from this vineyard, to further emphasise the personality of this wonderful site, directly adjacent to the winery.

Alcohol:13%

Bottle Size:750ml

pH:3.06

Winemaking Notes:All of the fruit was hand-picked and whole bunch pressed followed by 100% barrel fermentation in select French oak (24% new oak). Fermentation was allowed to occur naturally, with the wild yeasts introducing more complexity and personality into the wine. Barrels were lees stirred throughout a nine-month oak maturation period, without any malolactic fermentation. Only the best barrels were selected for the final blend, curated in November 2022. The 2022 Xanadu Reserve Chardonnay is made from qualifying grapes at a winery certified by Sustainable Winegrowing Australia.