Vasse Felix Heytesbury Chardonnay

Vasse Felix Heytesbury Chardonnay bottle image

Wine Description

A selection of the most unique and striking vineyard sections, recognised for its innovative winemaking and distinguishing 'Heytesbury' character.

accordion plus icons
Acclaim
From an excellent vintage and from the distinctive ‘Gingin’ clone, Vasse’s top Chardy is an opulent but extremely well woven wine that drinks beautifully now but could cellar for decades. Roast nuts, flint and beach shells are at the fore, alongside subtle salted citrus and melon. There’s weight, power, texture to the palate, with length and poise. This vintage is an excellent example of this world class Western Aussie style. (Cellar Selection) — Wine Enthusiast, Aug 2025
A swirl of caramel, wildflower honey and candied ginger adds complexity and depth to the vibrant core of fresh lemon, pear and apple flavors, with details of nutmeg, cardamom and wild fennel pollen on a sleek and juicy frame. Shows restraint on the finish. — Wine Spectator, Aug 2025
View more acclaim Arrow Right
accordion plus icons
Vineyard & Production Info
Production area/appellation:
Margaret River
Vineyard name:
Selected sites throughout Margaret River
Exposure:
Various
Harvest time:
February-March 2018
First vintage of this wine:
1997
Bottles produced of this wine:
12,000
Average Vine Age:
10 - 20 yo
Certified Vineyards:
Vasse Felix manages its vineyards organically and is currently completing the process to achieve Organic Certification.
Certifying Organizations:
NASSA
accordion plus icons
Winemaking & Aging
Prefermentation Technique:
100% wild yeast
Varietal composition:
100% Chardonnay
Fermentation container:
French Barriques
Malolactic fermentation:
Partial
Type of aging container:
Barriques
Type of oak:
French
Length of aging before bottling:
9 months
Age of Aging Container:
42% new, 58% 1-3 year old
Total SO2:
97
accordion plus icons
Analytical Data
pH level:
3.13
Acidity:
6.9 g/L
Alcohol:
13 %
Dry extract:
21 g/L
Total SO2:
97
Residual sugar:
0.85 g/L
accordion plus icons
Wine Production

Similar to the previous season, the 2018 vintage experienced cooler than average conditions. Spring and early Summer delivered intermittent cool then moderate weeks before a run of below average temperatures in January and February. Late January rain led to a fear of disease, however a beautiful period of ripening followed with ample sunshine and strong daily sea breezes preserving vibrant fruit flavours and acidity. Our white varieties ripened with ideal sugar levels and high malic acid content for the third year running, resulting in a desire to allow some natural malolactic ferment in Chardonnays.

accordion plus icons
About the Vineyard

Our most unique small vineyard sections where clone, aspect and soil interplay in such a way to ignite stunning varietal and wild yeast characters. Another cool season for Chardonnay, picked slightly earlier than 2017 and showing more fruit weight and ideal sugar levels. With moderate to high acidity, just over half completed malolactic fermentation. Beautifully ripe skins created a softer Heytesbury in this vintage. Hand-harvested, whole-bunches were pressed and transferred direct to barrel as unclarified juice. The wine was fermented with only natural yeasts from the vineyard and it remained in barrel for 9 months with some battonage. Fruit was 100% Gingin clone. A beautifully rich vintage for Chardonnay where the wines are looking approachable quite early yet will integrate and become deeper with time.