2023 Chardonnay- Grimsby Hillside Vineyard

The Grimsby Hillside Vineyard is located only 800 metres from Leaning Post, its terroir is nonetheless very different from our own. This vineyard, more specifically, The Frontier Block, slopes off the escarpment which is perfectly suited to Chardonnay and combined with mature (30-year-old) vines creates wines of elegance, power, and age-worthiness. A cool, steady and long growing season lead to a beautiful, dry and moderate harvest season, with average yields. As a result, this allowed the grapes to fully ripen very slowly, while keeping structure without losing acidity or freshness. The block’s two different Chardonnay clones: clone 76 and clone 96, were hand picked on October 27th. The clones were kept separate throughout pressing and oak aging. The fruit was whole cluster pressed and allowed to settle for a couple of days before being put into barrel for spontaneous fermentation. Once fermentations were completed, the wine remained in French oak barriques on lees for 15 months. This wine was skillfully blended with the perfect percentage of each clone to truly showcase this vintage, (50% clone 76 and 50% clone 96). We bottled this wine in July of 2025.