Description
The vineyards
The Semillon was planted in 1982 on the foothills of Great Dividing Range near the northern boundary of the Yarra Valley. Grey loam soils, old vines and gentle natural farming amongst the forest that surrounds this rare vineyard all contribute to its intensity, richness and focus.
Planted three years later closer to Yarra Glen at the base of the Christmas Hills escarpment, these Sauvignon Blanc vines are a Yarra Valley treasure. An old and unknown clone of Sauvignon Blanc with tiny yields of intense fruit that ripen remarkably early (this parcel would consistently be one of the first table wine harvests in the valley), it maintains crystalline acidity and focus across the full spectrum of Sauvignon characters.
Winemaking
The two parcels received similar harvest and winemaking treatment. Hand harvested and sorted directly to small fermenters in the vineyard with minimal crushing of the bunches. 10-14 days maceration followed by pressing to old oak barriques and hogsheads for fermentation and maturation. It was bottled without fining, addition of sulphur or filtration in early summer 2021. As with all our zero-added SO2 wines there is a period of bottle maturation prior to release, an important step of our zero-SO2 winemaking process.
Alcohol – 12.5%
Titratable acidity – 5.4g/L
pH – 3.39
Total sulphur dioxide – 14mg/L (naturally occurring)
Residual sugar – 0.27g/L
Volatile acidity – 0.46g/L
