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VINEYARD & WINEMAKING

The 2021 growing season in the Denmark sub-region of the Great Southern delivered a warm spring which resulted in an earlier than usual start to ripening. Even temperature days and cold nights helped to retain the natural acidity in the fruit while full flavours developed.

‘The Vivienne’ Chardonnay aims to capture the essence of our Denmark chardonnay vineyard from multiple perspectives. The chardonnay fruit for the 2021 vintage was harvested by hand in three separate picks from the end of February to 25 March 2021 until fully ripened, with average baumé of 12.0 across the three harvests.

Each parcel of fruit was chilled overnight, before whole bunch pressing direct to new and seasoned French barriques, for fermentation on full solids by natural yeasts. The wine was allowed to mature on lees without sulphur for approximately 5 months with some spontaneous malolactic fermentation taking place. The wine was matured for a total of 10 months in oak before being prepared for bottling. It was bottled on 28 February 2022 and rested in bottle for at least 18 months to allow for bottle age and secondary characters to start to develop.

THE WINE

Fine aromatics, reminiscent of floral, citrus and flint, build in intensity as the wine breathes in the glass, to show layers of funky wild ferment and lees- derived complexity. The palate has great depth of flavour, with clarity and poise, all the elements following a long line of mineral acidity. A tightly wound chardonnay of both power and finesse held together along a line of textural precision. A wine with great aging potential.

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CRITIC REVIEWS OF NOTE

2021 Vintage

97 points, value rosette, James Halliday, 2025 Halliday Wine Companion, Aug 2024
98 points, Ray Jordan Wine, Aug 2024
95 points, Tom Kline, WinePilot, July 2024
96 points, Gold Medal, International Wine & Spirits Competition, June 2024
96 points, Best in Show by Varietal, 2024 London Wine Competition, April 2024

2020 Vintage

98 points, Runner-up Best Chardonnay, Ray Jordan, 2024 WA Wine Review, November 2023
98 points, Equal Top in Category, Winestate Chardonnay Tasting, Dec 2022
97 points, Decanter, January 2024
96 points, James Halliday, 2024 Halliday Wine Companion, Aug 2023
96 points, Top of Chardonnay Class, The Real Review, January 2024

2019 Vintage

96 points, Top of Chardonnay Class, Winestate Magazine Wines of the West Awards, May/June 2022
96 points, James Halliday, 2023 Halliday Wine Companion, Aug 2022
96 points, Barry Weinman, finewineclub.com.au, March 2022
Gold Ribbon (top recommended Chardonnay), The Real Review, January 2023

2018 Vintage

97 points, value rosette, James Halliday, 2022 Halliday Wine Companion, Aug 2021
5 stars, Huon Hooke, The Real Review, Apr 2021
4.5 stars, Winestate Magazine, March/April 2021

2017 Vintage

4 stars, James Suckling, jamessuckling.com, Mar 2020
98 points, Top 100 Wines, James Halliday, Australian Wine Companion, Nov 2019

2016 Vintage

96 points, James Halliday, Australian Wine Companion, Aug 2019
93 points, James Suckling, jamessuckling.com, Jun 2019
96 points, Sarah Ahmed, Decanter Magazine, Mar 2019
17.0 points, Tamlyn Currin, JancisRobinson.com, Dec 2018

2015 Vintage

Australia's Best Chardonnay, James Halliday, Australian Wine Companion, Aug 2018
98 points, James Halliday, Australian Wine Companion, Aug 2018
95 points, Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front, Jun 2018
18.5+ points, Barry Weinman, Fine Wine Club, May 2018
95 points, QWine, May 2018
92 points, Huon Hook, The Real Review, Jul 2018

2014 Vintage

98 points, James Halliday, Australian Wine Companion, Aug 2017
19 points, Regan Drew, vinonotebook.com, Oct 2017
18.5+ points, Barry Weinman, Fine Wine Club, July 2017

2013 Vintage

96 points, James Halliday, Australian Wine Companion, Jul 2015
96 points, Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front, May 2016
95 points, Huon Hooke, Aug 2016
92 points, Jeremy Oliver

2012 Vintage

97 points, James Halliday, Australian Wine Companion, Mar 2014
97 points, Gourmet Traveller Wine Magazine, Feb 2015
95 points, Huon Hooke, Nov 2014
18.5 points, Barry Weinman, Fine Wine Club
95 points, Gary Walsh, The Wine Front
'Simply Wonderful', Regan Drew, Vinonotebook, Aug 2015