2022 Bella Luna Chardonnay
$65.00
2022 marks the quarter century for the Bella Luna Vineyard and we feel it’s bounding into maturity with this release. As are we, as we come to understand the site better every year, it’s quirks and characters that are our job to lift to centre stage and express or subdue if necessary.
Viticulturally, 2022 was a challenging year. A lot of Easterly weather systems brought considerable humidity over the blue mountains and warm evenings which gave rise to the toughest year for downey mildew that we have ever encountered. Couple this with a dusting of early season hail and we encountered some strong disease pressure in 2022. That meant some fruit had to be dropped. We also decided to harvest a good amount of fruit early, 1/3rd of the vineyard. This included any fruit exhibiting botrytis or downey mildew. We got most of the bot before it was too problematic. In the winery, this fruit was treated accordingly, with a pre fermentation bentonite addition so as to prevent any premature oxidation from the laccase in the botrytis. After that, it was sent to barrel and fermented slowly by wild yeasts in our usual style. This component was super lean and high in acid.
The next parcel was picked weeks later on March 29. The fruit was basket pressed and sent to barrel (1/3 new Cavin oak) after a very brief settling. The wines fermented slowly in barrel over the coming month and were held on full yeast lees for 10 months with intermittent stirring judged barrel to barrel. 2 barrels were stopped prior to completion of Malo Lactic fermentation to retain tension in the wine. Barrels were blended to tank and held in tank for 6 months prior to bottling in late September 2023 with a light filtration.
TECHNICAL DETAILS
Alcohol: 12.2
pH: 3.23
Malic Acid: 0.10g/L
Bottles made: 738
6 bottle maximum order.
