Vasse Felix Premier Chardonnay

Vasse Felix Premier Chardonnay bottle image

Wine Description

A pure, elegant and vibrant style of Chardonnay, embracing the region's powerful fruit with complexity and restraint to express the environment, with the hallmarks of Vasse Felix's premier vineyards.

accordion plus icons
Acclaim
“Intense nose of flint, grilled peach, dried lemon, mango, hawthorn, toast and smoked almond. Full-bodied, yet tight and refined, with bright acidity. Compact, concentrated and delicious, with a long, lively finish.”
— James Suckling, Oct 2021
“Virginia Willcock takes her prime chardonnay parcels on two separate paths: Mostly Gingin clone, two thirds of this wine is whole-cluster pressed and sent to barrels as unclarified juice. The other portion, harvested to handle some skin contact, gets direct-pressed and goes into barrels with most of its solids. Both lots ferment without added yeasts and age in their barrels (39 percent new) for nine months. Combined, they create a long, fresh, coastal chardonnay with depth. The skin phenolics add richness while also tightening the structure: The wine retains youthful lightness and an ethereal energy.”
— Wine & Spirits, Oct 2021
View more acclaim Arrow Right
accordion plus icons
Vineyard & Production Info
Vineyard name
selected sites throughout Margaret River
Soil composition
deep gravel loam soil over clay
Training method
VSP
Exposure:
Various
Year vineyard planted:
1996-2008
Harvest time:
Feb-16
First vintage of this wine:
2013
Average Vine Age:
10 - 20 yo
accordion plus icons
Winemaking & Aging
Varietal composition:
100% Chardonnay
Fermentation container:
Barriques
Malolactic fermentation:
Partial
Type of aging container:
Barriques
Size of aging container:
225L
Type of oak:
French
Length of aging before bottling:
9 months
Age of Aging Container:
42% new, 58% 1-2 year old
Length of bottle aging:
6 months
accordion plus icons
Analytical Data
pH level:
3.16
Acidity:
6.7 g/L
Alcohol:
13 %
Residual sugar:
1.18 g/L
accordion plus icons
Wine Production

The fruit was hand-harvested and chilled, gently whole-bunch pressed and transferred to French oak barriques as unclarified juice for fermentation with only natural yeasts from the vineyard. We allowed this vintage to undergo Malolactic Fermentation due to its high natural acids, resulting in a softer acidity. Each parcel was left on lees in barrel for 9 months of maturation with battonage, 100% French oak (42% new, 58% 1-2 yo)

accordion plus icons
About the Vineyard

Moderate spring conditions at the end of 2015 helped establish a healthy fruitset and better yields than the previous two seasons. January temperatures were warm, interrupted by one rainfall event late in the month, great viticulture management, clean, well-trimmed canopies and subsequent warm weather prevented disease risk. White varieties were harvested throughout February with elegant flavours and bright natural acidity.