Animale Chardonnay 2024 (6 Bottles) Heathcote

Young and crunchy Yarra Chardonnay with a good creamy core.

This comes from the Highbow vineyard, beautiful old I10V1 and P58 clones. It’s a south-facing slope of light-brown duplex clay loams in the Dixons Creek subregion. The fruit was picked early to achieve a citrus profile with lightness, freshness and smacking acidity. It was pressed directly to a mixture of old French puncheons and hogsheads with full solids.

Natural fermentation was allowed to peak at 23 degrees and progressed nicely until sugar dryness, 24 days later. The wine was then topped, chilled lightly and left without sulphur until two weeks before bottling. No fining or filtration.