This is just Pete Dredge's second Meadowbank Chardonnay.
From 20-year-old estate vines rooted in Derwent Valley's loose sand and sandstone overlying dark brown, coffee rock, rich in iron oxides and organic matter. It's what our gumbooted wine grower friends might call "quality dirt".
The 2017 was handpicked and whole cluster pressed directly to eight French barriques (one new). The wine underwent partial malo and spent the following nine months in barrel, on lees. Bottled without fining or filtration, the new vintage is focused and chiselled, tangy and pithy with layers of citrus and crunchy stone fruits.
The personality is driven by mouth-watering, punchy, cold climate acidity, while the superb winemaking brings out a layered seduction.
