Australia

Bright in the glass with tinges of green and white-gold. Classic aromas of citrus zest, candied peels, dragon fruit and hints of herbs and rye seeds. This is an attractively textural wine displaying the variety's intense purity. Bone-dry, its structure and length is underpinned by bracing acidity.

Vineyard: 

Dandelion Vineyards are proven plantings that have stood the test of time, encouraging the humble dandelion amongst the vines as they suppress winter weeds, provide mulch in summer, and proffer their Wishing Clocks in spring to blow off and make the Dandelion wish come true. The Enchanted Garden was planted in 1910 and thrives to this day, a seven acre Eden Valley Vine Garden lovingly tended by Sue and Stuart Woodman.

Vinification:

Whole bunches were hand picked in the second week of March then destemmed without crushing the fruit to fill the press exactly. The free-run juice and pressings were fermented separately in small tanks between 11-13°C. The wine was bottled directly with minimal fining and filtration.

Producer: 

Dandelion Vineyards is the venture of self-titled ‘typist’ Zar Brooks and his winemaking wife Elena, with wines made from the Barossa and Eden Valleys, Fleurieu, the Adelaide Hills and McLaren Vale. Nick Stock, one of Australia’s leading journalists, has described Dandelion as follows: “Brooks has teamed up with his winemaking wife Elena, a woman whose talents are outweighed only by her tolerance, in an exciting new venture called Dandelion Vineyards. The approach is remarkably simple and sees Elena making wine from a suite of beautiful old vineyards across that blessed curve that runs from the Barossa, up through the Eden Valley and Adelaide Hills and down into McLaren Vale.”

Vineyard: 

Peter Lehmann Wines works with over 140 growers across the length and breadth of the Barossa Valley region, with access to over 750 individual vineyard sites. Grapes for this wine came from selected vineyards in the Barossa Valley with the Pinot Gris sourced from the Adelaide Hills.

Vinification:

Cold fermentation took place in stainless steel tanks prior to blending and early bottling which produced a lively, fresh yet complex white wine.

Producer: 

Peter Lehmann, with 33 vintages already under his belt, started his own winery in 1979, partly as a means of helping with the glut of grapes then afflicting the Barossa. "I'll take your grapes and turn them into wine," he told the desperate growers, many of them conservative farmers of Silesian descent who regarded their old vines as part of their patrimony. "But I'll only be able to pay you when I sell the wine." They gratefully accepted. Without this deal, it is widely thought that the Barossa would have lost a huge chunk of its old vines. Since its first vintage, the Peter Lehmann winery has championed Shiraz and Semillon, the two great traditional varieties of the Barossa. The Layers blends use these two varieties as a base upon which to build a wine that expresses the new face of the Barossa, using varieties that are new or innovative. These smartly packaged wines show that while Peter Lehamann is a traditional winery, it continues to be as innovative today as it was 40 years ago.

This Chardonnay has fresh pear and lemon notes that combine with delicate white flowers. Lovely soft aromas of poached apple and marzipan evolve in the glass. Crisp, fresh and dry on the palate, the wine is tightly sprung then unwinds to reveal a citrus pith texture, wrapped around a fresh stone-fruit core.

100% Chardonnay