Qupe Y Block Chardonnay |13.5% | 2021 | 75cl

The Qupe Y Block Chardonnay has classic aromas of citrus, pears and nutmeg waft from the glass, with just a hint of vanilla and toasty oak from aging in barrel.

Coupled with mouth-coating viscosity on the palate balanced by naturally fresh, crisp acidity. This wine is completely dry; an elegantly balanced and structured Chardonnay.

WINEMAKING

As with all of our Chardonnays, this wine was made using traditional techniques— whole cluster pressed, chilled overnight in tank, then transferred directly to barrel for fermentation and aging. We prefer to go to barrel “dirty”, meaning with a fair amount of the lees. For barrels we use primarily François Fréres Burgundy barrels, about 20% new. We also incorporate some other new barrels that are designated for Syrah, just for the fermentation. This technique adds a little more new oak to the Chardonnay and takes some of the edge off the barrel when it is used for Syrah. 100% whole-cluster direct to press before racking off the heavy lees for barrel fermentation, 20% of which was in new oak. After fermentation, the wine went through malo before ageing in barrel on the lees for 9 months.