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The Meadowbank sparkling program is in full swing, and this 2019 Blanc de Blancs―the fourth release―is some of Peter Dredge’s finest work. That’s saying something, considering this winemaker’s pedigree when it comes to wines of an effervescent nature. The source is the same as the first three releases: the south-facing Far Horse Vineyard block, located close to the vines used for Meadowbank Chardonnay. While the latter are exposed to the north, the Blanc de Blancs parcel faces south in a slightly cooler mesoclimate. The clone is I10V1.
2019 was a dry, moderate year on the Derwent, delivering intensely flavoured Chardonnay with glisteningly fresh natural acidity. The fruit was picked by hand and pressed as bunches, with just the first two-thirds of the juice siphoned off to old barrels for fermentation over three months. As is the norm, Dredge washed one new barrel with the sparkling base this year. After three months in oak, the wine was bottled and spent the following five years on lees before disgorgement (September 2024) with just 3g/L dosage. It’s another fine, elegant, detailed wine from the sparkling maestro: refined and delicate, with citrusy acidity carving through creamy brioche and silky stone fruit. The finish is fine, tight and briny with excellent clarity and length of flavour. A very cool Blanc de Blancs.