Adelaide Hills Chardonnay

Serve with lemon and thyme roasted chicken accompanied by roasted Dutch cream potatoes.

A wet winter and spring filled the soil profile, giving the vines a healthy start to the growing season. Spring and early summer temperatures in the Adelaide Hills were particularly mild and below average, leading to a very sedate and lengthy ripening period. Through late summer and autumn mild days and cool nights were a perfect finish to the season, producing wines of restrained elegance with a high natural acidity.

On completion of fermentation, barrels were regularly topped and stirred over a ten month period in order to build texture and complexity. Individual barrels were then carefully selected for the final blend, which spent a further three months in oak before bottling.

From a vineyard hidden within the cool, elevated slopes of the Adelaide Hills, this Chardonnay celebrates the synergy of region, variety and a no-compromise attitude. Grapes were selectively hand-picked and chilled in our cold rooms before whole bunch pressing. The juice was filled directly into a combination of new (30%) and older French oak barriques for fermentation, which was carried out by indigenous yeasts which are naturally present on the grapes.

Over five generations members of the Hill-Smith family have been pioneers in locating exceptional vineyard sites that maximise the personality of their wines. Since the wine was released in 1980 Hill-Smith Estate Sauvignon Blanc has been recognized as one of Australia’s finest Sauvignon Blancs. Our Chardonnays from the Adelaide Hills and Eden Valley are contemporary wines crafted from fruit cultivated in premium Chardonnay growing regions. These wines honour the contribution that Wyndham Hill-Smith OBE (1909 - 1989) made to wine sport and life in Australia. A talented amateur artist Wyndham painted the front label landscape scenes on all three wines. Well known as a cricketer Wyndham Hill-Smith both shared the crease with Bradman and faced Larwood at his peak. He was a keen thoroughbred owner with more than 500 race wins and well recognised as a generous host and charming raconteur. Importantly Wyndham oversaw in the 1960s and ’70s the innovative return of viticulture from the floor of the Barossa Valley to the cooler climes of the high altitude Barossa ranges known as Eden Valley. In these conditions finesse elegance and understated power replace the robust and earthy style of the lower altitudes.