Vasse Felix Heytesbury Chardonnay, Margaret River

Description

Vasse Felix Heytesbury Chardonnay is the flagship white wine from this pioneering wine estate of the Margaret river. It is widely recognised as one of the areas finest Chardonnay.

Vasse Felix was founded in 1967 in Wilyabrup by Dr Tom Cullity. It was the very first winery to be established in the Margaret River wine-growing region of Western Australia. The winery is considered a true pioneer of the region. Dr Cullity had searched widely for his first vineyard site and eventually selected 8 acres in Wilyabrup which remain at the heart of the estate today.

The winery was purchased by the Gregg family in 1984. The Holmes à Court family then purchased the estate in 1987 and set about a period of expansion buying more vineyards but staying true to Cullity’s initial vision “to make the best possible wine.” The current owner and management of the estate is Paul Holmes à Court, the second generation of the family to rum Vasse Felix. Paul took over General Management of the Estate in 2005 and became the sole owner of Vasse Felix and its parent company, The Heytesbury Group in 2008. Virginia Willcock has been the winemaker since 2006 and since then she has twice been nominated for Australian Gourmet Traveller ‘Winemaker of the Year’ and was awarded the trophy for ‘Winemaker of the Most Outstanding Red or White Wine in Show’ at the 2011 Royal Adelaide Wine Show. There is a wide range of wines produced from icon wines like the Tom Cullity Cabernet Sauvignon / Malbec and the Heytesbury Chardonnay through to the Premier, Filius and Classics tiers.

Vasse Felix Heytesbury Chardonnay is made from the estate’s most unique small vineyard sections where clone, aspect and soil interplay in such a way to ignite stunning varietal and wild yeast characters. The grapes are hand-harvested, whole-bunches were pressed and transferred direct to barrel as unclarified juice. The wine was fermented using only indigenous yeasts from the vineyard and the wine is left in barrel (French Oak Barrique 62% new, 38% 1-4 year old 9 months) for 10 months with some battonage.  100% Chardonnay, Gingin clone. A beautifully rich vintage for Chardonnay where the wines are looking approachable quite early yet will integrate and become deeper with time.