• French oak
• Ripe stone fruit
• Nougat & vanilla
• Lingering finish

"Beautifully composed and expressed, the wine shows ripe stone fruit, fig, vanillin oak and oatmeal characters with a lovely touch of lemon zest. The palate delivers excellent weight and richness, while remaining refined and flowing to a lengthy delectable finish. At its best: now to 2027" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, Mar 2023

Pale straw. The bouquet of this elegant, yet powerful Chardonnay offers poached pears and grapefruit with underlying hints of frangipani and nougat. The palate is medium bodied displaying white fleshed nectarine, pome fruit and zesty citrus flavours. Taut and minerally, complimented by a lovely creamy texture derived from lees stirring whilst in barrel, the bright fruit and crisp acidity combine to focus the wine perfectly to a lingering fruit finish. A contemporary Chardonnay, displaying classic Margaret River hallmarks. The 2020 is a wine which, while drinking well in its youth, will certainly reward with careful cellaring.

The majority (57%) of the 2020 Xanadu Vinework Chardonnay is sourced from two mature vineyards in the Wilyabrup subregion of Margaret River. 25% of the blend was Estate grown on our Stevens Road Vineyard in Wallcliffe, and the remaining 18% was sourced from several vineyards in Treeton subregion of Margaret River.

Average Winter rainfall followed by a warm/dry Spring set up an early start to the growing season. Fruit set was variable, resulting in lower yields across most varieties. The warm Summer daytime temperatures combined with low yields saw harvest begin very early, at the end of January (one of our earliest ever) and all whites were harvested before the end of February. An incredible display of Marri blossom meant bird pressure was practically non-existent in the first half of vintage, and a short rain event after the white harvest offered some respite setting up the reds perfectly. Warm conditions continued throughout March, with all of the reds being harvested by the first week of April, our earliest ever harvest completion. In summary, 2020 will be remembered as an excellent vintage in Margaret River.

Made predominately from Gingin clone Chardonnay which was whole bunch pressed followed by 100% barrel fermentation in select French oak barriques (24% new oak). Wild fermentation was encouraged on all of the components, in order to introduce more complexity and personality into the wine. All of the individual batches which make up the blend were lees stirred throughout a nine-month oak maturation period, without any malolactic fermentation. The final blend was put together in November 2020.