2008 The Noble Prankster Chardonnay Semillon - 375ml
© Roger Fletcher
Technical Information
Harvest Dates:
21 & 22 March
Alcohol:
13.5%
Glucose & Fructose:
147.5 g/L
Titratable Acid:
7.8 g/L
pH:
3.62
Bottling Date:
2 December 2008
Chief Winemaker:
Chester Osborn
Senior Winemaker:
Jack Walton
The Story Behind The Name
Ever the prankster, Chief Winemaker Chester Osborn has stepped outside the usual sticky suspects of straight Riesling and Semillon to make a Chardonnay Semillon blend. It may look like a normal sticky, but look again, because when done well, sticky Chardonnay can be majestic.
The Characteristics
Upon release the colour is a vibrant yellow gold. The nose is youthful and perfumed with grapefruit and tight lemon and lime characters. There is a background of mix peel that provides a clue to the intense and complex characters found on the palate.
The unctuous luscious wine coats the mouth with an explosion of exotic and intense fruit including yellow peach, quince, green melon and a wonderful lemon butter nuance. There is a long spicy note before it finishes with a lingering and refreshing green mango character and lovely minerality.
Drink it now for its lively fruit characters or cellar for five to 10 years and expect it to take on delicious marmalade and dried fruit characters.
The Vintage
Healthy rains in winter and spring set the vines up well and encouraged healthy canopies. Warm weather over the Christmas break subsided for an un-seasonally cool late January and early February.
A string of hot days in early March promoted sugar levels much higher than normal in the cool climate of the Adelaide Hills. The heat subsided with a small amount of rain in late March which combined with high sugar levels to promote Botrytis cinerea.
The beginning of winter was un-seasonally warm (an average maximum of around 20 degrees) which was perfect for Botrytis development and shrinkage which is often difficult to achieve in the cool climate of the Adelaide Hills.
The Winemaking
Late harvesting from three vineyards took place by hand in small volumes when fruit flavours and the Botrytis cinerea infections were at an optimal point. Often there are multiple pickings of each vineyard.
The fruit was gently crushed before receiving a small amount of skin contact. The juice was separated via the gentle process of basket pressing.
Fermentation occurs in a number of small tanks using neutral yeast to cope with the high natural sugar levels and to avoid dominating the fruit characters. The fermentation stopped naturally, retaining a considerable level of residual sugar.