Vintage 2023| Whole Bunch Chardonnay Press
It has been a busy time in the Winery with the last Chardonnay fruit from the Home Vineyard coming in this week, ready to be whole bunch pressed and racked into fine French oak for wild fermentation. Below are some scenes from the TSD1 harvest, a plot of Gingin clone Chardonnay planted in 2018 in Toms Blocks in the Home Vineyard, with fruit looking fresh and lively.
Below, our A3 and C1 Home Vineyard Valley Blocks were hand-picked, chilled and then whole bunch pressed to create free run juice with the perfect soilds contribution. The magic of getting the right amount solids lies in carefully breaking a small number of berries to stimulate the start of maceration, before transferring the unclarified juice to barrels. This process of whole bunch pressing is integral to the Vasse Felix Chardonnay style, allowing us to achieve the high solids that contribute such beautiful savoury complexities to the final wine.