2024 Singlefile Family Reserve Chardonnay Magnum

The Singlefile vineyard is in the Denmark subregion of the Great Southern. We classify our chardonnay fruit to determine the ideal picking time to produce a cool-climate chardonnay with both power and finesse. Planted in 1986, the vineyard straddles the 35-degree latitude line and is 60 metres above sea level. The vineyard slopes north north-west in fertile well-drained Karri loam soils with abundant micro fauna and flora. The vineyard is very slow ripening and tends to maintain its natural acidity while developing flavour ripeness. 

The 2024 fruit, harvested by hand on 9 March, was chilled overnight, then whole bunch pressed and fermented with a third of the juice going to new oak, and the remainder to one year old French oak barriques from the Marsannay, Quintessence and D&J cooperages. The wine spent nine months in oak with a partial malolactic fermentation to develop mouth feel and richness. Lees stirring (bâtonnage) occurred at weekly intervals during the first five months in barrel. The wine was then left to rest before preparation for bottling. After bottling, it was rested for a number of months to allow for further integration in bottle before release.