The fruit to produce Chardonnay “Verve” Ocean Eight was picked to highlight the citrus spectrum, in particular grapefruit, hence the name ‘Verve’ which accurately describes the racy character of this wine. Whole bunches were chilled overnight prior to vinification in the gravity-fed winery. The Chardonnay “Verve” Ocean Eight grapes were whole bunched pressed and transferred by gravity to old French barriques at temperatures of 25 to 32°C. Spontaneous fermentation took place with indigenous vineyard yeasts. The wine spent 12 months in oak with full lees contact, imparting texture and complexity. The wine was gently fined and filtered prior to bottling.
The grapes come from a 2.5 hectare block of Chardonnay in an established vineyard of 20 year old vines. The clones are a mix of P58, I10, 95 and 96. Situated at an elevation of 65 metres with a north western orientation, the vineyard has a great airflow, which minimises disease pressure as the canopy dries quickly. The soil is sandy loam which provides excellent drainage, essential nutrients for vine health and imparts a minerality to the flavour profile.
Ocean Eight was established in 2004 in the southern and cooler side of Mornington Peninsula. Ocean Eight was Owned by the Aylward family, founders of the renowned Kooyong winery. In their state-of-the-art, temperature controlled, gravity fed winery, winemaker Mike Aylward produces stunning cool climate Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, taking influence from the great old world wine regions of Alsace, Burgundy and Champagne. All the grapes for the Ocean Eight wines are sourced from the family’s 17 hectares of vineyard and their total production each year is just 5,000 cases.
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