Description
“LL is a genius. One of the most gifted winemakers in the country.” Gary Walsh, The Wine Front
It’s been almost a decade since Lambert’s daring, handcrafted and joyously aromatic wines first made their way down from the Yarra Valley and on to the lists and shelves of Melbourne’s finest wine establishments (and a few of Sydney’s).
Lambert is obviously inspired by his experience making wine in Piemonte and Australia yet firmly believes that the personality of a wine will be dictated by its “place”. Lambert’s source vineyards (in poor, rocky and elevated pockets of the Yarra Valley) are therefore managed in order to bring out their unique geographic signature in the final wines.
All Luke Lambert wines are handpicked and of single-vineyard origin. They are wildly perfumed with moderate alcohol, fresh acidities, powdery tannins, and limited oak influence. Luke’s methodology includes wild ferments without the aid of temperature control, hand plunging, long macerations (with plenty of whole-bunch for the Syrahs), basket-pressing, gravity rather than pumping, old oak, and no fining or filtration. Lambert’s belief that “..the best wines have always been made by feel and are always sourced from unique and interesting vineyards that have natural balance and grow grapes full of character…” comes through strongly in the remarkable complexity and placeness of these wines.
The Crudo Chardonnay comes off the Denton block, a northwest-facing slope of granitic sand over heavy granite boulders. On the season, Luke notes that a warm and dry summer quickly turned cooler, yet he still had plenty of sunshine to ripen the Chardonnay. In the bottle, the wine shows both sides of the vintage: the coolness of the harvest period (in its acid retention); and the pulpy fruit from the warmer days.
As usual, this was whole-bunch pressed, wild-yeast fermented with no temperature control, saw full malo and old oak (2,000-litre French oak foudre for maturation), then zero fining or filtration and only minimal sulphur at bottling. It’s juicy, with just enough stone fruit goodness (apricot and peach) balanced by mouth-watering, salty freshness.
RRP $33 Our Special Price $27.99 – VERY LIMITED – LAST STOCKS OF THIS VINTAGE!
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