Tolpuddle Chardonnay

Wine Description

Tolpuddle Vineyard Chardonnay reflects the cool maritime climate of Tasmania's Coal River Valley, and the site itself is gently sloping, north-east facing, with light silica over sandstone.  The result is a fine and precise Chardonnay with a backbone of firm acidity, and a combination of lightness of texture, and intensity of flavor.

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Acclaim
Sophisticated and polished aromas of flint, stone fruit, lemon curd and beeswax. The palate is medium-bodied with a creamy texture that is cut through with a laser-like acidity, giving notes of grapefruit rind, shortbread, orange blossoms and chalk. Exceptional poise and balance with underlying tension coming from a cool vintage. — James Suckling, Feb 2025
The 2023 Chardonnay is precise and firm, with salty fruit and a spool of tense acidity that spirals through the finish. It's very long and very good, although raw at this inchoate stage of its development. I love this wine each year. The saline thread of acidity really extends out through the finish, like casting a fishing rod over a still lake; the sound of the reel is akin to the extension of the acidity across the palate. The bouquet speaks so clearly of sage, salted cashews, green apple, white peach and pressed lavender. This is a beautiful wine, one that is tightly coiled at this stage. I'd recommend buying what you can but waiting another year or more to open the bottles, such is the potential here. — Wine Advocate, Jan 2025
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Vineyard & Production Info
Vineyard name
Tolpuddle Vineyard
Vineyard size
50 acres
Soil composition
Light Silica over Sandstone
Training method
Guyot VSP
Elevation:
132 - 198 feet
Vines/acre:
1,110 - 1,515
Yield/acre:
2.4 tons
Exposure:
Northeastern
Year vineyard planted:
1988
Harvest time:
March - April
First vintage of this wine:
2012
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Winemaking & Aging
Varietal composition:
100% Chardonnay
Fermentation container:
Barrels
Length of alcoholic fermentation:
15 days
Fermentation temperature:
68 °F
Malolactic fermentation:
Yes - 100%
Type of aging container:
Barriques and Barrels
Size of aging container:
228L - 500L
Type of oak:
French
Length of aging before bottling:
9 months
Age of Aging Container:
New to 3 years
Length of bottle aging:
8 months
Total SO2
134
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Analytical Data
pH level:
3.2
Acidity:
7 g/L
Alcohol:
13.5 %
Total SO2
134
Residual sugar:
1.7 g/L
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Wine Production

The grapes were all hand picked, whole bunch pressed, and fermented in French oak. The wine spent nine months in barrel with gentle stirring as required, then rested in tank on lees.

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About the Vineyard

Tolpuddle Vineyard is an outstanding site within the Coal River Valley region. Planted in 1988 solely to Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, the vineyard takes its name from the Tolpuddle Martyrs, whose “reward” for starting England’s first agrarian union was to be transported to Tasmania as convicts.

Since acquiring the vineyard in 2011, Martin Shaw and Michael Hill Smith have invested heavily in improving all aspects of the vineyard and they are fully committed to seeing it recognised as one of Australia’s great single vineyard sites.