2020 Singlefile 'The Vivienne' Denmark Chardonnay
VINEYARD & WINEMAKING
The 2020 growing season in the Denmark sub-region of the Great Southern delivered warm, sunny weather early in the summer months, with below average rainfall. These conditions encouraged development of great fruit flavour early in the season, with the earliest harvest on record. The 2020 vintage was notable for lower yields, but exceptional fruit quality. ‘The Vivienne’ Chardonnay aims to capture the essence of our Singlefile chardonnay vineyard from multiple perspectives, comprising two separate passes of hand picking from different panels of the vineyard on 19th February (Be 11.7, pH 3.2) and 4th March (Be 12.6, pH 3.26).
Each parcel of fruit was hand-picked and 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 racked to a stainless tank and prepared for bottling. It was bottled on 3 March 2021 and then bottle aged for a further 30 months so that the secondary chardonnay characters present upon release.
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.
CRITIC REVIEWS OF NOTE
2020 Vintage
98 points, Equal Top in Category, Winestate Chardonnay Tasting, Dec 2022
96 points, James Halliday, 2024 Halliday Wine Companion, Aug 2023
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
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
