2019 Redbrook Estate Chardonnay

The Evans & Tate 2019 Redbrook Estate Chardonnay is an ultra-premium wine that showcases Margaret River at its best. It is complex and bold, combining rich and powerful fruit flavours which are characteristic of our Rowe Road Vineyard, alongside a smooth texture, malt and warm toast from malolactic fermentation and extended barrel ageing on yeast lees. 

The cooler 2019 vintage lends a vibrant, bright acidity to this Chardonnay, ensuring it is expressive and pure in its youth and will evolve in complexity and flavour over the next decade.

colour

Vibrant and fresh.

aroma

Layered, complex aromas of stonefruit, pear and citrus with seductive fresh toast, dried herbs and malt.

palate

A style of Chardonnay unique to Margaret River and Evans & Tate – very complex with tremendous fruit flavour, whilst retaining freshness and bright acidity. Dry malt, fresh toast and struck match complexity from wild barrel fermentation on solids with ripe pear and peach. A touch of zesty lemon butter on the palate from the partial MLF and extended time maturing on yeast lees. A sophisticated Chardonnay wine from the cooler 2019 Margaret River vintage.

cellaring

Will continue to develop for at least five to ten years from vintage. 

vintage

The 2019 vintage in the Margaret River region can be summarized as late, (mainly due to the cool Spring & Summer), low yielding, and with some disease pressure – the vines required careful management and those that received early and careful leaf and shoot thinning thrived. Longer “hang” (ripening) time was required for our vineyards in the southern end of the region compared to our more northern located vineyards. The low yields and very good ripening months meant we achieved ripe, long flavours alongside vibrant natural acidity.

winemaking

Our Rowe Road Vineyard drives the style of our Estate Chardonnay with its characteristic richness and drive. This is further enhanced by our use of MLF, time on yeast lees (up to 2 years) and new French oak, to produce a distinct and charismatic wine.

Handpicked fruit was cooled overnight to 8C before the cold whole bunches were tipped into our small airbag press. The juice is squeezed out by the airbag inflating to low pressures – this is the gentlest way to extract the juice and is a prerequisite to making world-class Chardonnay wines.

The juice was allowed a limited amount of controlled oxidation, with the turbid juice then going straight into barrel – 100% French oak, with half being in puncheon format (500L) and the other half barrique (228L). Of this, 26% was new and the balance 1- and 2-year-old.

All barrels underwent wild fermentation on solids. Fermentation was completed to dryness before a small amount of SO2 was added, and the wine was then chilled, and barrels topped and bunged. Two barrels (that represented 13% of the final blend) were allowed to go through MLF to impart texture and complexity and to ensure balance and harmony in the end wine. Battonage was undertaken on each new barrel every 4 weeks and on the 1-year barrels every 8 weeks. Barrel maturation was conducted at 15C for 11 months, followed by a further 8 months on yeast lees in tank before further maturation in bottle.

region

Margaret River 

variety

Chardonnay

analysis

• Alcohol: 13.0%
• pH: 3.18
• Acidity (TA): 7.90 g/L

Baked red snapper with garlic and thyme butter.

Perth Royal Wine Awards 2022

Margaret River Wine Show 2022

Royal Hobart Wine Show 2021

Wine Show of Western Australia 2021

Margaret River Wine Show 2021

Halliday Australian Chardonnay Challenge 2022

Royal Adelaide Wine Show 2022

Halliday Wine Companion 2023

Wild ferment, MLF blocked, matured for 10 months in barrel and a further 6 months in tank on lees. A reliably brilliant wine, this year is no exception. Classy fruit collides with toasty oak, all of it punctuated by bright acidity and fine texture. Super-smart +.

Huon Hooke, The Real Review 2022

Light yellow hue, with reserved but intense, focused aromas and flavours of lemon and grapefruit with creamy less notes, lively acidity holding it all together in a tight-packed bundle, long and refined through the finish. Very good and has potential to deliver even more in time. 

94

James Suckling 2022

Dried grapefruit, smoked almonds, brioche, seashells and wild herbs. Flint and hints of straw. Medium-bodied and intense with a smoky, toasty edge.

92