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The wine is fresh on the nose with aromas of white flowers, grapefruit and flint. A changing and complex wine of depth and concentration that with time in the glass reveals lemon curd, brioche and spent matchsticks. The palate is focussed, mouth-filling and long. The wine will metamorphose and take on complexity with age.
Season
The 2020/21 growing season was marked by moist and cool conditions throughout, with vines exhibiting luscious growth, but very modest yields, as they recovered from the prior years of drought. A long, cool ripening period enabled stress-free ripening and very memorable accumulation of aromatics and grape acid.
Viticulture
Vineyard blocks are variously located between 610 and 760m altitude at the foothills of the Snowy Mountains. The sites offer exceptional conditions for growing Chardonnay at the cool margin. The soil is deep, well-drained, weathered granite.
Winemaking
The grapes were harvested at just over 12 Baumé, with 10+ g/L acid. The fruit was whole bunch pressed and run to a mix of new and seasoned Allier and Vosges oak for fermentation. Parcels underwent varying degrees of malolactic fermentation, and were aged on lees, before blending and bottling in December 2021.
Taste
“Hand-picked, whole-bunch pressed, wild fermented and matured in French oak (30% new) for 11 months. An exceptional wine, harmonious and simple. White peach, pear and grapefruit all have something to say on the perfectly balanced and very long palate. The ’16 and ’17 are equally outstanding. – 97 points.” – James Halliday, The Weekend Australian
“Light, bright yellow colour, with a gently smoky reductive bouquet, a hint of Parmesan cheese (attractive). It’s a more complex style within the Tumbarumba paradigm. Good fruit concentration and depth, a lingering aftertaste and the flavour has detail and dimension. Excellent chardonnay – 95 points.” – Huon Hooke, The Real Review
Trophy Best Chardonnay – 2021 Canberra and Region Wine Show
Collector Wines
Alex McKay started Collector Wines in 2005 with just a handful of cool climate shiraz and a determination to make elegant, long-lived wines.
Fast forward to today, and we are known for wines that sing with a purity of regional expression and varietal definition. Our grapes come from vineyards dotted around the Canberra District and region, but our cellar door is in the heart of country Collector, just outside Canberra.
