Wakefield Jaraman Chardonnay

Description

Wakefield Jaraman Chardonnay is a blend of grapes from the Adelaide Hills and the Clare Valley. An unusual fusion of resulting in an intensely flavoured, complex yet elegant wine with distinct citrus, white peach & nectarine characters along with a subtle flinty note.

Wakefield Wines is located in the heart of the Clare Valley. The company was founded by wine merchant Bill Taylor Senior in 1969 with the purchase of 178 hectares of vineyards near the Wakefield River in Auburn. Bill Taylor carefully chose the site for its red brown loam over limestone soils ( this is known as “terra rossa”) and the cool climate of the Clare valley. In that same year, 1969, the first Cabernet Sauvignon vines were planted. Since 2000 the company has been run by Managing Director and third generation Winemaker Mitchell Taylor, the grandson of Bill Taylor Senior.

Today Wakefield Estate is one of the most highly esteemed cool climate producers in Australia. Almost all of the grapes are sourced from 500 hectares of family-owned vineyards in the winery which makes it one of the largest single estate plantings in Australia. They do source some fruit from trusted growers in other regions, Coonawarra, for example. The family’s home estate and vineyards are situated in South Australia’s beautiful Clare Valley, in the sub-region of Auburn and stretch to another sub-region border, Watervale. As well as the estate range, they also produce the Jaraman and St Andrew’s ranges. 

The Clare Valley fruit for the Wakefield Jaraman Chardonnay comes from the Victoria block on the Taylor’s family estate whilst the Adelaide Hills fruit is sourced in Woodside. The vines have an average of 20 to 40 years old.

All parcels are harvested in the cool early morning to ensure the grapes retain fresh varietal characteristics and the grapes undergo a gently whole berry press in a refrigerated Pera press. All of the free-run juice was fermented in tight grained French oak barrels. 60% of the barrels were new, 20% 2nd use and the remainder 3rd use so as to give great structure while retaining the vibrant fruit. Half of the parcels were wild fermented with the remaining half fermented using a texture building strain of yeast that is low foaming and designed for barrel ferments. After fermentation, battonage, otherwise known as yeast lees stirring, was employed to add a creamy texture to the palate. After maturation of 8 months in barrel, the wine was blended on the bench from both regional parcels to a specific taste profile and minimal fining and filtration was employed before final bottling.

The fruit source is 39% Clare Valley and 61% Adelaide Hills.