Description
Organic. S.R.H is one of the finest single-site Chardonnays grown in Australia. Just 12 rows of P58 vines in the Olive Tree Hill vineyard go into S.R.H. Planted in 1976 by founder Stuart Reginald Hooper, these are the oldest Chardonnay vines at the Bannockburn estate and are firmly entrenched in the ancient marine sediments that form the bedrock in this area. Own-rooted and well-established in the centre of the plot, the vines face north with an east-west orientation. Maturity and diligent farming mean yields are never significant, particularly in seasons like 2023, where the average crop across the estate barely surpassed a tonne to the acre. With each passing year, these old vines seem to suck even more minerality from the earth, delivering a spine-tingling wash of salinity to support the intense flavour and texture for which this benchmark Chardonnay is known.
The fruit was picked over two passes in early March and pressed as whole bunches to tank, where it settled overnight. The must fermented in French hogsheads (33% new), and the wine remained on lees for 10 months with no stirring and 65% malolactic conversion. We don’t need to add much to Campbell and Erin’s reviews below. Let us just say it’s one of the most exciting young S.R.H. wines we have tasted: pure, taut, linear and a masterful expression of deep-rooted power and measured refinement.
“The intensity of flavour here is significant. This is a rocket of a wine. Grapefruit, lime, lemon curd, sweet peach, tinned pear and pineapple characters come wrapped in smoky-sweet cedarwood. Acidity, barley-and-lemon-drenched, is prominent too, in keeping with the power of the fruit. It needs time for certain, but this is quite a wine.” - 95+ points, Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front
“The 2023 SRH Chardonnay is textural and taut; it is bound in phenolics at this point, but clearly superb. The length of flavor shows this. The complexity shows this. It's a hugely impressive wine that speaks of white peach, green apples, green olive brine, white strawberries and white pepper. It's salty and a little chewy. This will be a seriously great wine—give it time. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.” - 96 points, Erin Larkin, The Wine Companion
