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This stunning Chardonnay comes from the Lenswood vineyard, a lauded plot in the Adelaide Hills that sits at 500 metres' elevation. The site is plated to clones B76 and mature vine I10V1.
In the vineyard, Michael Downer and the team follow a sustainable viticulture model with a strong organic approach. This took some gumption in the cool and wet 2024 season, but downer and the team have still delivered a tense and star-bright chardonnay with swathes of mineral grip and a generous stonefruit undercurrent.
The fruit was hand sorted after picking and whole-bunch pressed into tank. It was rached to tight-grained grench barrels (50% new) where it underwent ferment. Downer built texture through some lees stirring and full malo. The wine then rested in barrel for 8 months before several more in tank. The result is a wine that balances the knife-edge of generosity and precision.