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Lethbridge

2024 Estate Pinot & Chardonnay
Lethbridge

Ray Nadeson has that unique ability of being damn good at every style he turns his hand to. Not many could weave a micro-pick of Victorian Savagnin into a brilliant homage to Vin Jaune – but that’s the magic of Lethbridge. Rumour has it that the Lethbridge project was originally conceived over a bottle of red Burgundy. Despite his famous and successful magpie-like tendencies, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir remain Nadeson’s first love.

Nadeson’s instinctive talent for adapting to each season is evident in the impressive pair of 2024 Estate wines. The Chardonnay is stone-fruited and juicy, perfectly balanced by fine, cool-climate acidity. Meanwhile, the Pinot is vibrantly red-fruited and complex. This vintage also marks the official introduction of Indra Nadeson, Ray and Maree’s eldest, into the winemaking fold. Indra has gained experience doing vintages in Chablis and Sonoma, showcasing her priorities as a young winemaker. That said, as we write, Indra is currently in Georgia, on the hunt for future vintage opportunities. The apple never falls far from the tree!

The Wines

Lethbridge Chardonnay 2024

Lethbridge Chardonnay 2024

This year’s Estate Chardonnay is sourced from four vineyards in Geelong. Notably, it's the first year the Estate has harvested a full crop from the cool Hat Rock vineyard, located on the Bellarine Peninsula between Drysdale and Portarlington. This vineyard sits bayside on dark clay and loam with limestone. The Moorabool Home Block, situated at an altitude of 205 metres, features basalt-derived clay over basalt. Additionally, a small portion of grapes comes from Sua Park, a Bellarine site with thin red clay. Finally, Hillside Haven is located on the western slope of Mount Anakie at 254 metres, where rich black clay and granite sit atop a quaternary basalt bedrock.

The grapes were hand-harvested in separate parcels, whole-bunch pressed, and wild fermented in the Estate's lightly toasted, custom-made French oak barrels. The wine undergoes full malolactic fermentation and is aged in approximately 40% new oak. Compared to 2023, this vintage shows more power, showcasing Lethbridge’s signature profile of beautiful stone fruit layered with citrus, wet stones, and oak spice. It has plenty of cool-climate vibrancy and energy, with a lingering, mouth-watering finish.

Lethbridge Chardonnay 2024
Lethbridge Pinot Noir 2024

Lethbridge Pinot Noir 2024

You can hang your hat on the quality of Lethbridge’s Estate Pinot. The grapes for this wine come from three vineyards in Geelong. The core vineyard is Lethbridge’s Moorabool Home Block, located at an altitude of 205 metres, where MV6 clone vines are planted in basalt clay and bedrock. These vines were planted in the 1990s. Springbank, also in the Moorabool Valley close to Bannockburn Vineyards, sits on red clay with limestone rocks over a limestone base, with vines planted in 2001. The final vineyard, Hat Rock, is a vibrant bayside site featuring clay and loam over limestone, with MV6, 115, and 114 clones planted in 2000. “It provides a bit more power and strength,” explains Indra Nadeson. “The Bellarine sites bring more elegance, so the balance this year is really nice.”

Each parcel of grapes was hand-harvested and fermented separately in open-top vessels with wild yeast and plenty of whole bunches. The fermentation was long and cool, with gentle cap management, involving daily pigeage followed by cap wetting. The wine was aged in 20% new oak for 11 months. “We really pulled back on the new oak, which works beautifully for the year,” Indra remarked. “It needed a gentler touch.” This classic Lethbridge Pinot displays succulent cherry and cranberry flavors, enhanced by a refreshing sappiness and a hint of whole-bunch spice. It is a beautifully vibrant Geelong Pinot with impressive length, bright mineral notes, and engaging complexity for such a young wine. The cool climate acidity and a whisper of fine tannin contribute to the wine's impressive length.

Lethbridge Pinot Noir 2024

“Ray is ever inquisitive, working across a panoply of varieties, from classic to those emerging in this country. He also works across many regions, across to Henty and further west to Mount Gambier and McLaren Vale. He also works in the Pyrenees, Riverland, Murray Darling, Heathcote… Beaujolais, even. That he stitches together all these into such a beautiful whole is much the magic of Lethbridge. Working with a wide variety of techniques and vessels, all the wines under the Lethbridge banner feel so purposeful, so necessary, and are deliciously leading lights in their respective categories.” Halliday Wine Companion Top 100 Wineries 2024

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