Eden Rift - Chardonnay Reserve 2018

A selection of 4 barrels were called out for Eden Rift's Reserve Chardonnay. All from block A, the fruit was hand-harvested at night on the first day of october. At the winery, the grapes were whole-cluster pressed with the resulting juice transferred to a holding tank for cold-settling. Following 24 hours of settling the juice was racked to French oak barrels (25% new) for fermentation. Fermented on native yeast, the wine was aged "sue-lie" for over 10 months before being bottled.

A rather opulent style of Chardonnay aged on 25% new French oak, this reserve bottling offers buttered peach, macadamia nut, light butterscotch and a hint of lemon zest on the nose. The palate is toasty with baked apple and blistered almond flavors, which are cut by zesty lemon peel leading into a pecan finish.

Lots of stone fruits, orange blossom, green almond, and lemon curd notes emerge from the 2018 Chardonnay Reserve, another lively, elegant Chardonnay from this estate. It benefits from air and is going to evolve for 4-6 years.