Mineralstein Chardonnay 12.5% 75cl

The grapes come from vineyard sites on loamy soils with high limestone content. Limestones reduce the vineyard’s vigour and give it more balance in growth and a lower yield, resulting in a wine with more structure and a delicate burgandian-like texture.  

A green harvest was conducted, dropping off excess fruit and late flowering bunches. To increase sun exposure of the grapes and to minimalise the risk of botrytis, leafs were plucked once late in the season. Every second vineyard row has a green cover for bio-diversity, whereas the other rows are cultivated until end July. Integrated viticultural methods are applied throughout the growing season.  

Chardonnay grapes are prone to botrytis and therefore it is vital that the grapes are harvested at the right moment. Additionally, a negative selection (triage), cutting off green and botrytis-affected grapes, was manually done in the vineyard. This ensured that only healthy and ripe grapes were harvested. Whole bunches of grapes were gently pressed with modern membrane presses at the winery. After cold settling and racking 60% of the juice was fermentation in French oak barrels and 40 in stainless steel tank.  A diverse range of selected yeast strains was added. Fermentation temperature ranged between 15ºC to 22ºC. After the fermentation, which took about 6 weeks, the wine was kept ‘sur lie’ for a further 8 months but without batonnage. 

Staff review: 

This is a balanced wine that sits nicely on the oak scale from its mix of barrel-fermented stainless steel, giving it a rounded middle ground that avoids heavy, buttery excess. Expressive aromas of tropical fruit, white flowers, and delicate toasty oak notes. Bright, ripe fruit. Zingy, fresh lime finish.