2023 Keith Tulloch Chardonnay, Hunter Valley

Tight, bright, focused Chardonnay from Keith Tulloch.

Tasting Notes

Fruit from outstanding Hunter vineyards give this wine brightness of aroma and excellent length of flavour. It starts with a saline nose, slightly grassy, positive reduction, and struck match. Chardonnay signatures remain paramount revealing elements of nectarine, honeydew, and pineapple, all giving crisp energetic line and length. Fine vanilla oak-spices sit beautifully in the background, and sur-lees creaminess, adding beautiful personality and harmony in equal measure.ine vanilla oak-spices sit beautifully in the background, and sur-lees creaminess, adding beautiful personality and harmony in equal measure.

Production

The Hunter Chardonnay vineyard was planted over 20 years ago and is sited immediately adjacent to the Semillon block – so there is a clear link with regard to the low vine yield, the fine fruit presence, finesse, elegant structure and fresh acid balance. This Hunter Valley Chardonnay is 100% barrel fermented and matured in a mix of new and young deluxe French oak barriques for six months, contributing harmony from start to finish. Malo-ferment is minimised to retain the natural vibrant and racy acid balance and freshness. Elegant bright fruit needs elegant oak handling as well, so lightly-toasted barrels of fine-grained French oak are used. The unclarified wine is left on lees in barrel for only 3 months so that it remains subdued and subtle, preserving the fruit freshness and the maximizing its potential for cellaring.

Producer

“I cannot remember being more impressed with an initial release of wines than those”, said James Halliday when he first tasted Keith Tulloch’s wines.

These thoughtful, hand-crafted wines hail from the Hunter Valley with a nod in part to the great Rhône Valley wines of Hermitage and Cote Rôtie. For those who may have tasted any legendary Hunter Shiraz wines of the 40s, 50s and 60s, tasting many of the modern Hunter wines can be a depressing experience but Keith Tulloch is very different, adding to that great legacy with a series of wines that uniquely capture the exotic spice and hedonistic pleasure of dense and rich Shiraz fruit. These are sensuous, subtle wines with the velvety texture of fine burgundy.

Sustainability

Keith Tulloch have attained the CLIMATE ACTIVE certification by the Australian Government. This means that the winery, vineyard and offices are certified carbon neutral as well as its wines (including glassware, boxes, shipping, bottling). This carbon neutral certification is one of the most rigorous in the world. Every emission created by the vineyard and the winemaking process has been reduced where possible; and where emissions are unavoidable the pollutants have been offset through carbon abatement so that the business and its products have zero net greenhouse gas emissions. Keith Tulloch is also a member of Sustainable Winegrowing Australia (previously known as Entwine) which requires wineries to report and reduce waste whilst promoting sustainable practices. A 65kw solar array has been installed, providing the vast majority of the estate’s power needs.

Keith Tulloch winery and vineyards are also officially sustainable under the Sustainable Winegrowing Australia certification which was developed by the Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI).

In the vineyard Keith Tulloch engages in regenerative agriculture, minimising the use of chemical sprays and actively promoting soil health, life and biodiversity. It has started a program of revitalising native vegetation around the vineyard, which creates habitat for native insects, birds and animals which benefit the vineyard ecosystem. The business has eliminated single-use plastics and has instead moved onto biodegradable alternatives to prevent plastic waste. All Keith Tulloch wines have moved from heavy glass to lightweight eco glass, which considerably reduces greenhouse gas emissions from glass production and transport. The winery has enacted an array of water efficiency measures to eliminate water waste and to recycle waste water for use in the parks and gardens. The vineyard is now composted and fertilised only by organic fertiliser, re-using a product that would otherwise go to waste and reducing soil degradation and emissions from synthetic fertilisers.

The estate continues to uphold organic viticulture principles in the vineyard, and this is improving year-on-year. Investments in agricultural equipment in the next financial year will further reduce the use of some chemical sprays, however there is no plan at this point to certify these practices.

Specifications