
Bannockburn SRH Chardonnay 2021
Named for Bannockburn founder and pioneer, Stuart Reginald Hooper.
Minimum Order 6 Units (straight or mixed)
- Viticulture
- Winemaking
- Tasting Notes & Reviews
Our SRH Chardonnay is from a distinctive 12 row selection of our oldest Chardonnay vines at Olive Tree Hill vineyard planted in 1976 to clone P58. These rows are unique from the remainder of the vineyard in part due to being most in contact with and influenced by the site of an ancient seabed, and the rows sit in the middle of a north facing slope with an east-west row exposition.
Fruit came to the winery in very good condition and was all whole bunch pressed to tank for settling overnight before racking to barrels. Wild yeast fermentation in French oak hogsheads of which 30% was new, followed by partial malolactic fermentation (70%). The wine was blended and bottled in February and rested in bottle until the upcoming release.
A inherently powerful single vineyard expression, driven by a core of fresh citrus acids and stone fruits. Chardonnay from this site is always inflected with a mineral quality and quartz-like energy.
97 points - Medium-depth yellow colour leads into a shyly reserved bouquet which speaks of buttery shortbread, dried citrus peels and butterscotch which is more evident on the palate, where the wine is very intense and even quite powerful, with a long-lasting carry loaded with penetrating lemon/grapefruit flavours. The aftertaste is refreshing and full of energy. A delicious and very impressive chardonnay. Huon Hooke, realreview.com
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Single Vineyard
2022 Vintage
We had another good year of rain across winter: the soils warmed up slowly which led to normal timing for budburst. The La Niña rains
continued through the first half of the growing season (630mm July to June) but eased after Christmas, although storms and hail were often in the forecast and nearby. Temperatures increased significantly in the second half of the season to a total of 1430 Growing Degree Days.
We started picking Chardonnay early March, and with only a couple of exceptions (Sauv Blanc and Riesling) the yields for every block were
near long term average. The fruit was in very good condition, picking weather was mostly very helpful and all the ferments went smoothly. Malic acid levels are average but most lots will go through malolactic fermentation in the
Spring.
At this stage the wines show promise: a nice balance of stone fruits and citrus in the Chardonnay, structure and transparency to season and site in the Pinot Noir and Shiraz.

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