Coates The Reserve Chardonnay 2024

Coates The Reserve Chardonnay 2024

In 2015 a decision was made to produce two distinct Chardonnay wines from the same block;  (The Chardonnay) and a Reserve style with longer oak ageing, a higher proportion of new oak and two picking passes. 2024 represents the 9th release.

The fruit is sourced from a single vineyard block in the Kuitpo region of the Adelaide Hills (where the Coates winery based). A cool climate location ensures that the grapes have an elegance of flavour and good natural acidity that we seek to preserve in the finished wine. The Reserve Chardonnay uses hand picked fruit from two harvest times; an earlier pick to maintain a taut acid backbone and minerality with a later pick to capture subtle tropical fruit and riper stone fruit characters.

Our winemaking style is traditional with a gentle enclosed bag pressing of the fruit with a 550/L tonne extraction. As a small winery, we have gone to the expense of purchasing our own new 3000L Puleo enclosed tank press to provide control over the pressing and oxidation of the white juice during vintage. The Chardonnay juice was natural yeast fermented with fine solids in new (60%) and second use (40%) barriques from the Dargaud & Jaegle, Nadalie and Chassin cooperages then aged on lees without racking for sixteen months. Malo was allowed to proceed, and the wine was matured with minimal battonage.

Pretty impactful from the get go in a genuinely positive way - this is not a wallflower by any means. Yellow nectarine, pulpy decadent orchard fruits, white florals, acacia - really  judicious and well integrated oak, plus youghurt and these lovely savoury elements like curry leaf and wood spice. It's powerfully layered, but very well handled - the fruit intensity has the potential to get pretty big and over the top, yet the acidity and phenolic matter balances and carries this effortlessly. A pretty big nod to Pernand Vergelesses, Corton-esque in stature. Very very good wine for the style!