2021 Origin Of Now Chardonnay

95 points "There is a purity and naturalness about this wine, largely a result of winemaking approach of pressing straight to oak, wild fermentation, full malo and ageing for 10 months before being bottled unfiltered. Lemon curd and brioche with almond meal and a trace of jasmine. The palate is textured and controlled with a very long finish."

WA Wine Review 2024 / 2021 Origin of Now Chardonnay

93 points "Mid-straw in the glass, fresh and bright. Complex aromas of nougat, grilled nuts, nectarine, white flowers and cooked citrus. Full, rich, round and creamy on the palate. The flavours really caress and envelop. There's an opulence and richness, with lashings of peach, cream and nutty oak. Length and mouth-feel are impressive. A little old school, but very enjoyable."

The Real Review / 2021 Origin of Now Chardonnay

92 points "The wine has some weight, too, lots of sweet, spicy cedary oak to the fore while the fruit flutters underneath. Lots of creamy texture and a certain depth."

Halliday Wine Companion 2024 / 2021 Origin of Now Chardonnay

91 points "The 2021 Origin of Now Chardonnay leads with custard apple and brine, donut peach and red apple skins. In the mouth, the fruit is concentrated and framed by toasted oak, drawnout over a long finish. Classically styled Chardonnay here, with power and drive and oak. Good."

Erin Larkin - Robert Parker Wine Advocate / 2021 Origin of Now Chardonnay

Vineyard: Osprey Point

Wine Making Notes:

Harvest

The inclusion of the full solids straight from the whole bunch pressing into the barrels provided texture and further enhanced the complexity of the blend with wet sharpening stone, gunflint minerality. The fermentation was fully indigenous to reflect the exact terroir’s make-up. The lees were mostly left unstirred to avoid broadening the palate too early. However, left to mature unsulfured, the wine completed malo-lactic fermentation through the winter, further rounding the acids and adding notes of hazelnut cream, nougat and candied fruit brioche without overt diacetyl.

The full lees were kept during the oak aging in fine-grain high-toast French oak – 1/3 new- until the end of December without batonnage. The final blend was assembled by barrel selection and allowed to settle in a small holding tank before lees racking. The wine was not stabilized nor filtered in preparation of the bottling.

Variety

The soil of the parcel is representative of the best-free draining laterites of the Leeuwin Ridge and the fully open canopies allowed to mitigate the effect of the rains of vintage 2021, with our three main Dijon clones all shining in their own rights in 2021. Clone 95 (2 micro-selections, ~45% of the blend), clones 96 (1 selection, ~40% of the blend) and clone 76 (1 selection, ~15% of the blend) were sorted and picked by hand on 24/2/2021 then field blended to take advantage of their complementarity.

Clone 95 was harvested from two small zones -one very rocky and low yielding, and another more gravelly- that both exhibited the traditional characteristics of the clone reflected in this wine: purity, long linear minerality and a strong backbone of acidity rounded out by the succulent white fruit notes. The clone 96 selection provided the muscular, fleshy and juicy intensity of its melon notes while clone 76 kept its austerity and provided the line of pithy citrus that lengthens the palate.

Potential Cellaring

This wine will reward patience with long ageability. A cork closure was chosen to allow small oxygen ingress and the wine should be laid down to age. Sediments and crystals may be present and decanting can be considered.

Nose:

The aromas of white nectarine and creme brulee, with the creamy and caramelized overtones. 

Palate:

The palate consists of a beautiful creamy structure of custard notes, with gentle layers of stone fruits, as apple and apricot line the aftertaste. Cutting through is fine segments of citrus, balancing out the rich oak flavour from the malactic fermentation. 

Allergens:

Alc %: 13.8%

750mL