Click above to see a video of the bottling of our 2011 Curly Flat Chardonnay.
On the bottling run that is! Last week we bottled our 2011 Curly Flat Chardonnay, a vintage that has not only produced some exciting wines, but also provided for our greatest challenge “yet” viticulturally speaking. On this we are far from alone as the intense wet and humid conditions of 2011 affected all viticultural areas on the Australian east coast for that year. Despite this adversity we feel we’ve made some of our best wines to date and it is a testament to our site and to the dedication of our vineyard crew, that we have to sometimes remind ourselves it was such a difficult vintage.
And as no vintage is truly complete until it’s safely in the bottle, we’ll always enjoy bottling for this reason. This isn’t say the bottling run itself cannot be arduous or is in itself a blast, but when we consider the level of commitment and care through all stages of the resulting wines life, we ultimately bottle with a sense of deep satisfaction which is felt throughout the entire team. Also it is our multi-skilled vineyard crew, who guided the fruit from the vineyard into the winery, who work the bottling line ensuring the same continuity of quality is upheld from vine to wine. Well done guys!
Next up we’ll be bottling the 2011 Curly Flat Pinot Noir early next year. This won’t released until 2014, but it is already shaping up as a hauntingly beautiful, intensely fragrant and fine boned expression with great length and carry. The 2011 Chardonnay will be released mid next year to allow for some bottle development. For a preview of these wines, keep your eye out the 2011 Williams Crossing wines, as they’ll continue their trademark ‘crossing’ of where value intersects with true varietal expression.
Curly Flat Vineyard 