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Shimora Estate Chardonnay 2024
Tasting Notes:
The wine immediately showcases its cool climate origins with pristine and focussed aromas of grapefruit, chalk and just ripe pear laced with white flowers with pronounced but well integrated French oak. Streamlined in texture with an intense and youthful core of citrus flavours, with subtle savoury nutty oak complexity underlined by fresh, zesty acidity. Tightly wound to start before opening out to a fine finish of exceptional length, there is clear cellaring potential and opportunity to grow handsomely in bottle.
Winemaking:
Our first harvest from our new vineyard - a small crop of 1.4 tonnes. Tractor problems in the prior season resulted in mildew issues which led to a lack of robust canes laid down for the 2024 season. Our almost brand new vineyard tractor’s engine failed and a new engine was eventually air freighted from Italy but many canes had already been compromised.
Despite significant bird damage, we managed to produce very clean grapes which were harvested on 31 March. The fruit was gently whole bunch pressed and transferred into barrels (228L and 500L) from Cooperage 1912. These barrels are made from French oak staves, coopered in South Australia. Conventional barrels are made in France, and spend significant time travelling across the equator to Australia. By using Cooperage 1912 barrels, we can have barrels freshly toasted, delivered and filled within a few days. The Chardonnay was in barrel for one year before resting in tank for four months ahead of cross-flow filtration and bottling. The wine went through full malolactic fermentation, and the resulting Chardonnay has both fruit power and vibrant acidity, showing grapefruit and white peach aromatics and having a velvety creaminess. While it is drinking well already, it is still very youthful and the structure suggests that its best drinking window is some years in the future. A very pleasing aspect of this wine is the moderate alcohol of 12.7% - a reflection of its truly cool climate origins.
Reviews:
“Medium depth of bright red, laced with purple, and the bouquet has a strange pyrazine-like overtone that dominates the initial pour. An oak influence? A solid aeration uncovers intense spices and background dark-cherry aromas, while the palate is light and airy, a tad lean and lacking depth and richness. Tannins are fine and tight, drying the finish cleanly. An unusual wine. (First crop from Phillip Moraghan and Rika Shimo's vineyard at Little Hampton) 92 Points” - Huon Hooke
“A fascinating first vintage of single vineyard Macedon Ranges Chardonnay from Phillip Moraghhan of Curly Flat fame and his partner Rika Shimo. Focussed and graceful aromas of freshly cut pear with a touch of grapefruit and chalky minerality are finely meshed with spicy oak and French nougat barrel ferment. Firm edged acidity leads off before citrus leaf and grapefruit flavours laced with peat with attractive phenolic grip. Just bottled, this is wound very tight but yet displays genuine volume of flavour and length. A very impressive first outing.” - Angus Hughson
Tasting Notes:
The wine immediately showcases its cool climate origins with pristine and focussed aromas of grapefruit, chalk and just ripe pear laced with white flowers with pronounced but well integrated French oak. Streamlined in texture with an intense and youthful core of citrus flavours, with subtle savoury nutty oak complexity underlined by fresh, zesty acidity. Tightly wound to start before opening out to a fine finish of exceptional length, there is clear cellaring potential and opportunity to grow handsomely in bottle.
Winemaking:
Our first harvest from our new vineyard - a small crop of 1.4 tonnes. Tractor problems in the prior season resulted in mildew issues which led to a lack of robust canes laid down for the 2024 season. Our almost brand new vineyard tractor’s engine failed and a new engine was eventually air freighted from Italy but many canes had already been compromised.
Despite significant bird damage, we managed to produce very clean grapes which were harvested on 31 March. The fruit was gently whole bunch pressed and transferred into barrels (228L and 500L) from Cooperage 1912. These barrels are made from French oak staves, coopered in South Australia. Conventional barrels are made in France, and spend significant time travelling across the equator to Australia. By using Cooperage 1912 barrels, we can have barrels freshly toasted, delivered and filled within a few days. The Chardonnay was in barrel for one year before resting in tank for four months ahead of cross-flow filtration and bottling. The wine went through full malolactic fermentation, and the resulting Chardonnay has both fruit power and vibrant acidity, showing grapefruit and white peach aromatics and having a velvety creaminess. While it is drinking well already, it is still very youthful and the structure suggests that its best drinking window is some years in the future. A very pleasing aspect of this wine is the moderate alcohol of 12.7% - a reflection of its truly cool climate origins.
Reviews:
“Medium depth of bright red, laced with purple, and the bouquet has a strange pyrazine-like overtone that dominates the initial pour. An oak influence? A solid aeration uncovers intense spices and background dark-cherry aromas, while the palate is light and airy, a tad lean and lacking depth and richness. Tannins are fine and tight, drying the finish cleanly. An unusual wine. (First crop from Phillip Moraghan and Rika Shimo's vineyard at Little Hampton) 92 Points” - Huon Hooke
“A fascinating first vintage of single vineyard Macedon Ranges Chardonnay from Phillip Moraghhan of Curly Flat fame and his partner Rika Shimo. Focussed and graceful aromas of freshly cut pear with a touch of grapefruit and chalky minerality are finely meshed with spicy oak and French nougat barrel ferment. Firm edged acidity leads off before citrus leaf and grapefruit flavours laced with peat with attractive phenolic grip. Just bottled, this is wound very tight but yet displays genuine volume of flavour and length. A very impressive first outing.” - Angus Hughson