Our 2012 Unwooded Chardonnay exhibits subtle green melon and lemon lime characters on the nose. The palate consists of subtle peach and honey with a tang of green apples. The richly textured creaminess and length is generated by extended lees contact in the cement tanks prior to bottling, allowing the fruit to express itself with little human intervention and little preservative being used throughout the maturation period. An exciting new wine added to our 'Classic Range'.
Enjoy on its own, fresh grilled prawns or fish, salmon fishcakes or vegetable terrine.
in the cellar : Fermentation: 100% fermentation in Nomblot concrete egg shaped tanks. Ageing 6 months unsulfured on heavy lees.
Bottling Date: October, 2012
Glen Carlou is synonymous with Chardonnay, having successfully made two wooded Chardonnay styles for almost 25 years - our Classic Chardonnay and our single vineyard Quartz Stone Chardonnay. We felt it was a natural progression to make a small trial batch of an Unwooded Chardonnay in 2011. Arco fermented the wine in a specially formulated cement egg shaped tank which we import from France. In 2012, we increased production of this wine and we are pleased to present it to you.
These specialized concrete tanks offer excellent thermal inertia, as well as controlled micro-oxidation, and are of course flavour neutral and durable. In effect, they offer a combination of some of the best qualities of stainless steel and wooden tanks. Wines fermented in concrete display more weight, fruit intensity and minerality than the same wines aged in stainless steel or plastic.
The Nomblot Egg's porous clay-cement walls allow for natural oxygenation without oakiness. The tank's most surprising benefit may well lie in its shape. All fluids rise when temperature increases, and do so in a vortex, however in a barrel or other container, the vortex is slowed by the angles. Within the angle free Egg the vortex turns naturally for weeks, which raises the lees, and nourishes the wine.