Chardonnay “M3” Adelaide Hills 2023 – Shaw + Smith

To produce the Chardonnay “M3” Adelaide Hills Shaw + Smith the hand-picked grapes were chilled overnight, whole-bunch pressed, and then fermented in French oak barriques and puncheons, a third of which were new. Maturation then took place in oak with some lees stirring prior to bottling.

Shaw + Smith own two vineyards in the Adelaide Hills, at Balhannah and Lenswood, totalling 55 hectares. The vineyards are planted to varieties that perform particularly well in the region, namely Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Shiraz. This wine is sourced from Piccadilly, Lobethal and their Lenswood Vineyard, at 455–500 metres elevation. Undulating with east and west facing aspects, the soils are brown loams over clay with broken shale on the ridges. The vineyard was planted in 1999.

Established in 1989 by Martin Shaw and Michael Hill Smith MW, Shaw + Smith’s aim is to make contemporary, high quality wines that stand among the best of their type in Australia. The wines are made exclusively from fruit grown in the Adelaide Hills, one of Australia’s coolest and most exciting regions. Shaw + Smith specialise in grape varieties suited to cooler climates, such as Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay, and also make outstanding wines from Shiraz and Pinot Noir.