Oaked Chardonnay 2010

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Chardonnay is a very versatile grape. At RiverBank Estate it is used to make an unoaked style, an oaked style and also used to make a ‘methode champenoise’ style as well as being used in blends.
This wine began life like the unoaked version. Half way through fermentation the fermenting juice was transferred to new American oak barrels to complete fermentation. The fermenting juice was stirred occasionally to re-suspend the yeast particles. At the end of fermentation part of the wine was inoculated with a bacteria to induce a malo lactic fermentation. This process converts malic acid to the softer lactic acid giving the wine a ‘buttery & butterscotch’ characteristic. Sulphur dioxide was then added as an anti oxidant and the wine then left in the barrels for 6 months before being fined with skim milk powder, cold stabilized, filtered and the bottled.
The wine has toasted vanillin oak and buttery malo lactic fermentation like characters complemented by typical chardonnay fruit salad like aromas and taste. The wine is lively on the palate due to its fruit characters balanced with natural acids to give a good lengthy mouth feel and a lingering aftertaste.
Designed to drink now, the wine will develop further in the bottle to a more complex style over a period of years.
Enjoy!!


Alcohol content 12.6%