Springfield Estate Wild Yeast Chardonnay 2013

ageing : Can be enjoyed for the next 3 - 4 years.

Vines are unaware that humans turn their grapes into wine. They are destined to attract birds with sugar as the lure to transplant their seeds. These favoured seeds will then have a head start in a competitive forest, for they are fertilized by the bird’s droppings.

However, should the bird not pitch the vine would very much like to re-use the sugar it had produced so laboriously. So over time it evolved an unique system to ferment this sugar. The grape will first develop a waxy layer to attract the wild yeast it so greatly desires. The yeast then breaks down the skin and ferments the sugar into alcohol. Then vinegar bacteria, also present, will turn this wild wine into an organic type of vinegar, dripping onto the forest floor to nourish the mother plant – to present a new crop of seeds next year. We allow these fickle yeasts to live in our vineyard by not applying the usual sprays to kill them. We endure their temperament while they ferment their wine in our cellar. And only if it is special enough, will we present it – like the mother vine – to the wild world.

True to its moniker, the Wild Yeast Chardonnay is fermented using the native, wild yeasts that occur naturally on the skins of the grapes. Unwooded, it is fermented in underground cement tanks in a slow, volatile process that can take anywhere between 6 – 9 months. This method, although risky, results in incredibly expressive wine with a wisdom that is unattainable in wines made using commercial yeasts. 

Tank fermented with native yeast
60 days alcoholic fermentation
100% malolactic was allowed naturally
13 months on the lees
25g/hl Bentonite fining
Filtration: 2.5 micron filtration on the estate prior to bottling