Churchview Estate St Johns Noble Riesling 37.5cl half bottle

Description

Churchview Estate St Johns Noble Riesling is a limited edition dessert wine from Margaret River. Made with grapes affected by Noble Rot (Botrytis cinerea).

Churchview Estate is an award-winning, family-owned wine producer located in the Margaret River wine-growing region of Western Australia. The estate was founded in 1999 by father and son team Spike and Raymond Fokkema and is situated near the locality of Metricup just off the Bussell Highway. Spike had emigrated from The Netherlands in the 1950s and had been a successful businessman prior to purchase. Today  the estate is owned and run by Raymond Fokkema and his sister Sharon Bosveld (who joined the family business over 20 years ago). The winemaker is David Longden. Churchview Estate was awarded with a 5 star winery rating in James Halliday’s 2016 and 2020 classifications.

The estate takes it name from the view of the heritage listed Anglican Church of Saint John the Baptist which can be seen from the estate. The single vineyard estate comprises some 100 hectares with 56 hectares of vines. The site was carefully selected for its maritime climate, ideal and fertile gravelly loam soils, ample clean water and north facing slopes and 16 different grapes varieties are grown. Organic certification was awarded in 2020.

Churchview Estate estate produces several different ranges of wine, the flagship wines are the limited release, handcrafted Bartondale range, which is named after the dairy farm that was originally on the site. There follows the St Johns range, made from more unusual grape varieties, which is named after aforementioned, neighbouring church. There is also the fruit driven Silverleaf range.

The grapes for Churchview Estate St Johns Noble Riesling are carefully nurtured in the vineyard and are allowed to become infected with Botrytis cinerea. They are hand picked early in the morning, ensuring that the fruit remains cool prior to processing at the winery. Whole bunches are loaded into the press to minimise exposure to oxygen. The grapes are then gently pressed and the juice then goes to a stainless tank for chilling and cold settling. Once the juice has settled, the clear juice is inoculated and the fermentation begins. Fermentation temperatures are maintained at around 11-12 degrees and the ferment is a long, cold process. During the ferment, the developing wine is continually monitored to evaluate the sugar and acid balance. Once the fermentation is nearly finished and the right balance is achieved the wine is chilled down to minus 5 degrees to stop the fermentation process and retain the natural sugars. The wine is then bottled shortly afterwards.

Suitable for vegans and vegetarians.