Polperro /
2024 Mill Hill Chardonnay
REGION
Mornington Peninsula
TASTING
A fresh, driving palate—energetic and vibrant—with a concentrated mid-palate fruit core. Layers of citrus and preserved lemon peel swirl through. Subtle nuances of praline and honey transition seamlessly into a wet pebble-like minerality, carrying through to a long, persistent finish.
WINEMAKING
The fruit is handpicked and whole bunched pressed using a gentle champagne press cycle. No enzymes or sulfur are used at the press tray and the juice is oxidatively handled to get rid of oxidative enzymes early on in the winemaking process. The wine is left at ambient and transferred to barrel with full solids, with minimal sulfur added. Fermentation occurs using wild yeast and it is then left unsulfured to the following summer at which time most of the wine has completed full malo-lactic fermentation. A minimal amount of sulfur is added and left in barrel for a total of 6 months where it is racked off gross lees and transferred to tank. The resulting wine is bottled using no finings and minimal filtration.
VINEYARD
Our Mill Hill vineyard is in Red Hill, the highest and one of the more exposed sites in the region, with a north-facing slope with vine rows running due north. This ensures a long ripening period giving high levels of natural acidity which persist through to the wine. There are two blocks on this vineyard: The ‘road block’ which goes into our estate wines and the very special ‘hill block’ which lies over a bedrock of granite and produces our single vineyard Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The wines are mineral and driving in nature.
Elevation: 270M
Harvest dates: early to mid-April
Clones:
Pinot Gris D1V7 clone, own roots 0.9 acres
Chardonnay I10V5 clone, own roots 4 acres
Pinot Noir MV6 clone, own roots 2.5 acres
115 clone on 101/14 rootstocks 0.8 acres planted 2009
Q120a clone on 101/14 rootstocks 0.1 acres, planted 2009
Q320a clone on 101/14 rootstocks 0.1 acres, planted 2009
The single vineyards produced from this vineyard are Chardonnay and Pinot Noir and all vines are cane pruned to Vertical Shoot Positioning (VSP).
VITICULTURE
We grow, make and farm our vineyards using a philosophy of sustainability and regenerative agriculture, applying a mix of biological, biodynamic and organic practices.
REVIEW
PRICE
$90 RRP/ $540 case of 6