2023 Singlefile 'The Vivienne' Denmark Chardonnay

The 2023 growing season in the Denmark subregion of the Great Southern was characterised by relatively mild spring and summer temperatures, resulting in a late start for flowering and a late finish for ripening. The fruit enjoyed the slow ripening season, coming off the vine in beautiful condition with a lovely balance of flavour and natural acidity.

‘The Vivienne’ aims to capture the essence of our Denmark chardonnay vineyard from multiple perspectives. The chardonnay fruit for the 2023 vintage was harvested by hand in three separate parcels on 15 and 24 March, and 5 April, with an average baumé of 11.77 across the three picks.

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 matured on lees without sulphur for approximately 8 months with regular bâtonnage every 4 to 6 weeks. The 2023 vintage produced a tightly focused wine of great complexity and intensity. The wine was matured for over 10 months in oak before being prepared for bottling. It was bottled on 12 June 2024 and rested in bottle for at least 20 months to allow for bottle age and secondary characters to develop.