The 2007 season was near perfect with even and moderate temperatures and no summer rain. Crop yields were down as a result of the cold spring of 05/06 which reduced the fruitfulness of the budwood however with reduced yields comes improved quality. The result was fewer bunches overall but even fruit set from the ideal growing conditions of spring 2006. There were a couple of hot days in March but the overall growing season was early and moderate producing completely disease free fruit of optimal ripeness.
The fruit for our MadFish Unwooded Chardonnay is sourced primarily from Margaret River, the Great Southern and Pemberton regions in the South West of Western Australia. These regions give different flavour profiles, Margaret River tends to give riper fruit characters of melon and white peach while the Great Southern contributes more citrus flavours such as lemon and grapefruit with Pemberton sitting between these two both in terms of geography and flavour wise giving apple and pear notes.
The majority of the blend is Chardonnay with a very small percentage of Sauvignon Blanc being used to give some slightly grassy or herbaceous characters to round out the more full flavoured Chardonnay.
This wine was fermented in stainless steel tanks without the interference of oak to allow the complex fruit characters to dominate the palate. Low fermentation temperatures allows a maximum retention of fruit flavour and aromatics while ensuring the resulting wine is completely dry. Early bottling has also preserved the fruit flavours and characters of the cool climate Chardonnay used to make this wine.
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