This small-batch Ochota Chardonnay comes from Sam Virgara’s Hill Block in the Piccadilly Valley, located behind Mount Lofty and regarded as one of the highest-altitude winegrowing regions in Australia (1300 to 1950ft). It’s a selection of their favorite micro-parcel of Chardonnay.. days of tasting, thinking, retasting… Fog and cool temperatures mean Chardonnay is an apt choice. As its name implies, this wine is electric and snappy, but with a decent amount of texture from weekly battonage.
The grapes are hand-picked in late March and then basket pressed with full solids straight to thick staved Burgundian barriques. Indigenous yeast fermentation follows, with weekly batonnage. The wine is bottled unfined and filtered to retain natural malic acid. The only addition is a small dose of SO2, and it is coarsely filtered. No fining.