Wakefield Estate Chardonnay, Clare Valley

Description

Wakefield Estate Chardonnay is 100% Chardonnay sourced from vineyards in the Clare Valley and Padthaway wine growing regions.

Wakefield Wines are located in the heart of the Clare Valley and was founded by wine merchant Bill Taylor Senior in 1969 with the purchase of 178 hectares of vineyards near the Wakefield River in Auburn. Wakefield Wines are still known under their original name of Taylor’s Wines in Australia. Bill Taylor carefully chose the site for its red brown loam over limestone soils ( this is known as “terra rossa”) and cool climate of the Clare valley. The same year, 1969, the first Cabernet Sauvignon vines were planted. Today Wakefield Estate is one of the most highly esteemed cool climate producers in Australia. For many years Taylor’s grapes were sourced from 400 hectares of family-owned vineyards in the Clare Valley which made it one of the largest single estate plantings in Australia. Today the estate consists of 750 hectares across different regions.

The grapes for Wakefield Estate Chardonnay come from vineyards in the Clare Valley and Padthaway and are harvested and delivered to the winery at night to preserve the freshness and aromatics in the grapes. The grapes are whole berry pressed, quickly chilled and pressed again. The majority of the juice is barrel fermented in used French oak barrels. Some of the wine is fermented using native yeast and some is fermented in stainless steel. All parcels are lees stirred for 4 months and are then finally aged in oak cask for a further 6 to 8 months.

The 2019 vintage fruit is sourced Clare Valley (64%) / Padthaway (36%).