Chardonnay is a classic varietal in Elgin, but what makes the difference is the clones, the planting and the soil.
Our Chardonnay is a blend of 2 clones: 548 and 95. Clone 548 brings finesse, minerality and tension to the wine, although it naturally produces tighter bunches. Clone 95, on the other hand, adds a slightly more tropical character and has looser berries, making it better suited to handling the wind. (548 is less forgiving in that regard, but it is protected by the surrounding pine trees at the very bottom of the block.)
The soil consists of extremely rocky shale, incredibly poor and challenging. Especially for the 95, it was very much a process of trial and error. In reality, what we use today for this clone is a combination of "elevated" bush vines and very short Guyot pruning. With bush vines, the nutrients remain concentrated in the trunk and head, from which the canes grow. Since applying this system, our Chardonnay has been performing beautifully.
Alc 13.8% - T/A 6.9 – R/S 3.9 – pH 3.08