The Next Big Thing Australian Chardonnay – Smalltown Vineyards, Barossa Valley, Australia
It is with some delight that we have learned demand for good Australian Chardonnay is on the rise again… hopefully the beginning of a new movement… The label reflects ‘word-of-mouth’ with a bunch of hipster types sharing the news of “the next big thing”, a real vineyard find, proper stuff with bags of varietal appeal but lovely texture too.
The Producer
We are very proud to offer wines from Smalltown Vineyards of the Barossa Valley – there couldn’t be a more compelling producer and they constantly manage to produce excellent wines. Smalltown Vineyards, formerly The Magpie Estate, is a joint venture, which began in 1993, between famous Barossa winemaker Rolf Binder and English wine merchant Noel Young. Both Rolf and Noel have a passion for Rhone varietals. The fruit comes from 15 long-favoured sites in the premium northern Barossa, drawing on Rolf’s deep understanding of the area. Noel then sneaks out into the night in a rubber catsuit and steals all the best fruit from these growers. The labels celebrate a superstitious theme and we count ourselves lucky indeed to have them aboard.
The Vineyard
Grapes are hand-harvested from an old block on the Binder family Barossa vineyards.
The Science bit
Small batches of Chardonnay are picked and pressed through a tank press with some skin contact. 25% is fermented in French puncheons and American hogsheads for 6 months, aged on lees then blended with the 75% unoaked juice, settled and bottled. Into the main Barossa blend a small component of Eden Valley Chardonnay is blended and the whole sees a tiny bit of secondary use oak for some fine structure.
What does it go with:
Anything with chicken, pork, prawns, seafood … Brilliant as a quaffer or perfect with a lovingly cooked meal.
