Clarence House Estate Reserve Chardonnay 2023

Variety: Chardonnay
Country, Region: Australia, Tasmania, Cambridge

Entirely from a single block, utilizing a very high proportion of the prized Penfolds clone. Whole-bunch pressed, wild barrel ferment, six month élevage. A selection of the finest barrels has resulted in in a reserve bottling with 50% new French oak, sourced from a combination of barriques and puncheons. Wonderfully complex, boasting citrus and peach stonefruit, tempered by judicious marriage of oak. Robust, concentrated, yet fresh and bound by impeccable structure.

Deep, complex nose combines soft citrus scents, lime, fresh herbs, minerals and stone. Juicy, stony and penetrating, with crystalline flavours of lemon and minerals. More complex than the young-vines example, with firm, perfectly integrated acids giving the wine a very brisk character. Stony, long and precise on the aftertaste.

This small vineyard is located just north of Hobart on a perfectly positioned north-east facing slope. The beautiful old Georgian homestead of Clarence House was built in 1830 at Clarence Plains, Mt Rumney, has been maintained in its original splendour surrounded by beautiful gardens, and in 1998 present owner David Kilpatrick began planting vines on the north east sloping block facing Mount Rumney just below the Coal River Valley. Over 8ha of the total 12ha of plantings consists of pinot noir and chardonnay, with the remainder including pinot blanc, sauvignon blanc, merlot and tempranillo. All wines are now made by Anna Pooley and Justin Bubb at the nearby Pooley cellar in Cambridge.