Veramonte Chardonnay 2022
CHARDONNAY | 2022
CASABLANCA VALLEY
BRIGHT • LUSCIOUS • SMOOTH
Fresh and expressive aromas of pear, quince, and lemon curd, interwoven with toasty oak notes. On the palate, vibrant purity of the fruit, with a beautiful texture and depth that leads to a memorable long finish. A very expressive and elegant wine.
This vintage in Casablanca presented good conditions starting in spring, setting us up for excellent flowering and fruit set. Harvest began the last week of February, which was slightly delayed from what we had planned. However, things sped up and we had a very good ripening curve, especially at the end of the season. This year, the first varieties to be harvested were Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, having received very good temperatures from October onwards.
This Chardonnay is silky and mineral and is without a doubt an elegant and expressive wine.
Recommended Serving Temperature: 12ºC
Food Pairing: Seafood, Chicken Salad
"A pure chardonnay here with some wet stones, green pineapples and lime. Nice texture on the crisp, linear palate. A nice attack of fresh acidity and an alkaline, chalky finish. From organically grown grapes. Drink now." - 90 points, James Suckling
Grand Bateau Blanc 2022 by Chateau Beychevelle
Bordeaux AOC, France
Aromatic to the nose with notes of buttery-vanillin oak flavours and exotic fruit (orange rind and honeyed grapefruit). On the palate, the wine is round, fleshy with wonderful minerality and again, delightful exotic fruit flavours. The new-oak flavours are present. Very nice balance between the oak, fruit and acidity. Excellent finish.
100% Sauvignon Blanc. Harvest is done 100% by hand. Following a skin-contact maceration, 75% of the juice is fermented in vats and 25% in oak-barrels. During this ageing period, “batonnage” is carried out. After blending and filtration, bottling is carried out in late spring following the harvest.
Guillaume Gonnet Le Reveur Cotes Rhone Blanc 2022
The energetic and charismatic Guillaume Gonnet is not your average Rhône winemaker. Extremely open in his attitude, his curious, boundary challenging approach extends beyond wine.
He travelled to the far ends of the earth, reveling in the opportunity to surf some of the best waves in the world while learning his craft in various Australian and New Zealand regions. Returning to the Rhône, now with his Australian wife Kelly, Guillaume has shown similar energy for his family estate and for his own nascent project. This land locked surfer may be miles from the ocean but is happily riding the wave of new found enthusiasm for Grenache based wines. Pursuing biodynamics wherever possible, allowing his fruit to express itself freely through hands-off winemaking and displaying his fascination for the varying soils of the Rhône through his diverse range of wines, he's just the sort of restless creative that we love to work with.
Viticulture: The vineyards are composed of light clay and sandy soils with vines grown on terraces. The vines are around 40 to 50 years old and are on a North facing slope and planted at 4000 vines per Ha. Handpicked grapes.
Winemaking: 100% de-stemmed, with a 15 to 20 day fermentation and maceration in stainless steel with natural yeasts. No malolactic fermentation. 12 months ageing in stainless steel.
Nose: Grapefruit, apricot, peach, citrus aromas, white floral notes; A highly expressive and complex nose.
Palate: Nice acidity and minerality in the mouth.
Finish: A lovely saltiness at the end of the pallet.
Food Pairing: Seafood, chicken, rabbit, fresh cheese.
Waipara West Sauvignon Blanc 2022
The wine is an brilliant pale straw green colour. The aromas are as immediately striking as they are appealing, you are instantly saturated with lofty aromas of passionfruit sherbet and sweet florals. Asian herbs like lemongrass and Thai basil add a savoury backdrop. Dry river bed and salt crust provide further earthy complexity. Full and juicy in the mouth ripe tropical fruit like richness flows through to a textured and cleansing granny smith finish with a stain like persistence.
Food Pairing: Shellfish, Vegetarian, Goat Cheese
Rimapere Sauvignon Blanc 2022
Baron Benjamin de Rothschild had the real desire to create his own Sauvignon Blanc. He purchased around 24 hectares of vineyard, ideally located on the prestigious Rapaura Road, in the heart of the Marlborough region of New Zealand. This area’s cool climate is perfect for ripening high quality sauvignon blanc grapes and providing them with their typical lemon and grapefruit flavours, together with crisp acidity.
The wines come from a single vineyard named Rimapere, meaning “five arrows» in the Maori language, pays a dual tribute to the Rothschild family’s emblem and the traditional local culture.
- Winemaking: Gentle pneumatic pressing, cold settling, fermentation in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks for 3 weeks (11 to 18 C)
- Soil type: Rapaura Series, Stony Soil free draining, with a small Silty top layer
- Varietals: 100% Sauvignon Blanc
- Food and wine: Can be enjoyed on its own as an aperitif or with a carpaccio of scallops.
First Drop Vivo Adelaide Hills Arneis 2022
VINEYARD: Kersbrook in the northern Adelaide Hills - 340m above sea level on complex sandy clay loams over shale
VINTAGE 2022: Above average winter rainfall initiated healthy bud burst and minimal irrigation was required as a result. Spring was also relatively cool & windy which lead to some prolific canopy growth in parts of vineyards but also uneven flowering, which saw lower yields in many cases.
Colour: Pale straw, with tinge of green
Nose: Nashi pear and passionfruit with a hint of lime
Palate: Nashi pear and pithy fruit flavours dominate, with lime zest and minerality, making the palate long and zingy.
Food Pairing: Fresh scallops with ginger and shallots, chilli crabs, salt & pepper squid, agnolotti al plin
"Tastes like arneis with candied lemons and limes with some steel and stone undertones. Medium body. Really takes off at the finish. So much energy. Drink now. Screw cap." - 92 points, James Suckling
First Drop ‘Real Time’ 2022 Chardonnay
Long mild mornings & days as well as bitterly cold nights slowly ripen, pristine chardonnay fruit allowing it to develop elegant flavours & tight texture. Delicate & minimal handling in the winery has seen us produce an outstanding Chardonnay from an excellent vintage.
Colour: Pale Straw
Nose: Apples, yellow peach & pear blossoms with hints of toasted hazelnuts
Palate: Nectarine & white peaches with yellow grapefruit. Fresh lemon curd & hints of brioche, on a tightly textured palate.