Ocean Eight Grande Chardonnay 750ml
Description
he Chardonnay grapes come exclusively from our 7 acre block of vines on the Mornington Peninsula. The fruit is cropped low and hand-picked for optimum quality. We pick a week later than the grapes for our Verve Chardonnay. The juice then flows by gravity into a mixture of new and old large format barrels. The juice ferments with native yeasts at a cool constant temperature in our underground barrel room. The Grande Chardonnay is pale gold in colour and gives little indication of its age and extended barrel maturation. The aromas are spicy with a hint of burnt matchstick along with some honeyed lemon. Whilst certainly not over the top the wine is rich compared to our Verve Chardonnay and the flavour builds in the mouth. Honey notes are strong at the front of the palate and there is some toast from the oak. At the back of the palate, the acidity is fantastic in and the finish is dry and lingering.About Ocean Eight
The winery is managed by Michael & Hollie Aylward whose passion originated over a decade ago with a part-time job at the family’s previous winery Kooyong. Ocean Eight has evolved into the couple’s full-time obsession. Whilst the first crops ripened on the vine, to further cultivate their viticultural experience, the Aylward’s embarked on several tours of the renowned vineyards and cellars of the Burgundy region in France. These trips played an important factor in the style of wines now produced at Ocean Eight. This passion-driven endeavour to bring the highest quality wine to the Mornington Peninsula saw Michael win the sought-after Australian “Young Gun of Wine” award in 2011. When defining what identifies the Ocean Eight wines, Mike Aylward always returns to two ideas he has worked on since the first release wine; how well are they going to match with food and will they best represent the climate and grape growing conditions of the Mornington Peninsula. Therefore the Ocean Eight wines are lean, bright & tight with acid at the finish. These characters help the wines pair with food and age incredibly well. It is no coincidence that these characters are also intrinsic to the cool, maritime conditions of Mornington Peninsula vineyards, where the Aylward’s chose to grow grapes and make wines over 20 years ago. (Website)