Meadowbank Chardonnay 2024

The 2024 season saw a return to normal yields after a string of lean Chardonnay seasons at Meadowbank. Sunshine and warm days were a feature in summer, offset by cool nighttime temperatures, ensuring fresh natural acidity and vibrant fruit character. The fruit comes off the property’s oldest vines, which are P58 clone and well into their 30s. Peter Dredge describes the vineyard as a “beautiful little spot” with loose sand and sandstone overlaying dark brown coffee rock rich in iron oxides. The fruit was picked over two passes at slightly different ripeness levels, ensuring sufficient acidity to balance the ripe-leaning nature of the clone. The fruit was pressed as bunches to French barriques (10% new) for fermentation, followed by nine months’ maturation on lees.

In the classic Meadowbank mould, it’s focused and chiselled with a rocky palate layered with citrus, white flowers and crunchy stone fruits. Signature cool-climate acidity pulls everything together, leading to a tapered, pulpy finish teeming with slaty drive.