Chardonnay Great Southern 2023 – Three Lions

The Chardonnay Great Southern Three Lions was machine harvested during the coolest part of the night to preserve the maximum fruit characters of the grapes. After gentle pressing, the juice was transferred on light-medium solids to various fermentation vessels. A portion was fermented in oak and another in stainless steel under controlled temperatures. Post fermentation, the wine received regular lees stirring to add complexity and mouthfeel. The wine was then lightly fined, stabilised and filtered prior to bottling.

Plantagenet’s 126 hectares of vineyards have been carved out of the region’s distinctive Marri soils, named after the massive native Marri, or Red Gum, trees that grow there. Fruit for this wine was sourced from four mature vineyard sites (Crystal Brook, Wyjup, Bouverie and Rosetta) with vines aged between 20 and 50 years old and all VSP trained with either spur or cane pruning. The soil type throughout these sites is sandy/gravel or gravel loam over clay.

The Three Lions wines are from Plantagenet. The name Plantagenet was given to the shire in Western Australia by early English settlers and was adopted by the winery when it was established in 1974. The arms of the Gules family, who later became the Plantagenet dynasty, were three lions passant guardant, termed colloquially “the arms of England”. They were first adopted by King Richard the Lionheart (reigned 1189–1199), son of King Henry II of England (reigned 1154–1189), and grandson of Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou.