Nocturne Wilsons Single Vineyard Chardonnay 2023

Nocturne Wilsons Single Vineyard Chardonnay 2023 

So, I have been taking this fruit in for a while and what it has, to me at least, is raw beauty in its purity. Different to the Forrest vineyard, which plays on raw power, the Wilson Vineyard has a fruit purity that is both subtle and compelling at the same time. It’s amazing to me the contrasting natures of the unique and wonderful sites we have in Margaret River that really, we are just only getting to grips with.

The fruit is from a single site in the Wallcliffe sub-region but further away from the coast, inland from the township. The chardonnay block is again pretty tiny with only 2 Ha planted. The orientation is east-west planted and has a slight north aspect to the slope. This tiny 4 tonne batch is a hand-picked selection from the top of this slope. The grapes were handpicked on 27th of February, whole bunch-pressed directly to new, one and two-year-old puncheons, with no settling or fining processes. This juice was then carefully monitored and spontaneous fermentation kicked off on day three after pressing. After a three-week ferment, the wine remained on gross lees un-sulphured until September of that year. In December the wine was emptied from barrel, settled, filtered and bottled. The final blend being around 20% new oak.

This lovely supple, subtle wine whilst being just that, still has Margaret River trademark fruit weight and drive. Think blossom, white nectarine and purity; there is great beauty in purity and I think this one’s a stunner. Only 112 six packs made. – Julian Langworthy