2011 Chenin Blanc
Dragon Fly - 2011 Chenin Blanc
Blend:
100% Chenin Blanc
Region:
Willow Bridge Estate, Geographe, WA
Bottled:
July 2011
Release Date:
July, 2011
Technical Data:
- Alcohol 13.0%vol
- Total Acidity 6gm/lt
- pH 3.23
- Residual Sugar 15.0gm/lt
Winemaker:
Simon Burnell and Jane Dunkley
Winemakers Notes:
~ Style ~
Bursting with florals and tropical fruits with a juicy sweetness and a refreshing spritz on the palate.
~ Background ~
The Chenin Blanc grape hails from the cool Loire Valley in northwest France where it is known for its high acidity which often requires significant levels of residual sugar to keep the wines in balance. This high natural acidity has allowed the variety to make a well balanced drier style from the warmer viticultural regions of Western Australia which was often previously labelled 'White Burgundy'. At Willow Bridge, we adopt a very simple winemaking approach, fermenting clear juice in stainless steel tanks and stopping the ferment just before dryness to leave a hint of sugar to balance the wine. Early bottling with some of the carbon dioxide gas produced during fermentation still in the wine captures this clean and refreshing style highlighting the abundant natural fruits and florals of the variety.
~ Facts and Figures ~
The season: Unlike the rest of the country, 2011 was another magnificent vintage in the Ferguson Valley - our fifth in a row. Post vintage 2010 we saw our regularly calm, mild and sunny autumn last until......summer came along again. 2010 was thus the driest year for a century or more in much of the area. Our normally clockwork-like winter and spring cold fronts generally bypassed us to dump on the south-eastern states they had been avoiding for the last few years. The growing season to veraison (grape puberty where they start to soften and reds become...red) therefore saw some reduction in disease pressure, vegetal growth and potential yield versus the ‘average’ year. January 2011 delivered two unseasonal rainfall injections of an inch or so each. With twenty days of dry and sunny weather in between them, they couldn’t have been better timed. Just when we thought that the worm may have had turned and we may be harvesting from canoes like some of our eastern-states brethren, Australia Day onwards saw the start of another record spell, with local stations recording up to 90% of days to the end of February over 30 degrees. The absence of any nasty spikes above 37 degrees meant that most varieties ripened quickly and in good condition, but all at once. Whilst the vines and grapes suffered very little stress, the people involved in vintage certainly did, with our last red picked on the 25th of March breaking our previous record early finish by three days.
Vineyards : Estate grown in the Ferguson Valley from our 'Forest' Chenin Blanc block planted in 1997 on classic WA "Marri soil" (a deep layer of ironstone gravelly loam over reddish friable clay) with a southwesterly aspect.
~ Tasting Notes ~
Appearance: Pale gold with a hint of green.
Nose: Musk, rose petals, nashi pears, rockmelon and too many tropical fruits to name (guava, passionfruit, pineapple, mango…..) Fruit punch Fruit tingles/ tropical??
Palate: Fresh and juicy - pretty much a tropical fruit punch with a soft mid-palate grapey sweetness balanced by a twist of cooling acidity and a fruit-tingle (TM?) like spritz
Cellaring: Whilst chenin does have a good capacity for ageing, this one is really made to be enjoyed whilst in its pretty youth.
Food pairing: Something spicy - Vietnamese lemongrass beef and rice noodle salad.
