Les Fruits Collines Chardonnay 2022

Organically farmed deep in Piccadilly Valley. Always racy and pure, no surprise given the vineyard’s primary purpose is sparkling wine and clones are matched to that. Treated the same as all my chardonnays – hand pick, chilled fruit direct pressed, lightly settled and run to old oak for 100% barrel fermentation and ageing on gross lees until racking, in this case 11 months.

Sitting at 12.8% this represents a riper expression from this site but you wouldn’t know it tasting the wine. Pristine pale straw crystal clear with a few tiny tartrates which have probably naturally fined the wine clear in bottle. Equally pure is the nose with lovely lemon line, a little underripe white peach and gentle artifact from lees and old barrel spice. Generous ripe citrus and sweet white peach underpinned by lovely tension and acidity with some superfine tannins are a little surprise but adding nicely to the tension. Not an easy style to pigeon hole but certainly serious for its price point. - Tim Stock, winemaker