Unoaked Chardonnay “Foundstone” 2023 – Berton Vineyard

This Unoaked Chardonnay Foundstone Berton Vineyard is made from vineyards in the Riverina, NSW and Padthaway, South Australia. Both were harvested in February, with the Riverina fruit harvested at the start of February and the Padthaway harvested at the end. The parcels were fermented separately in stainless steel tanks for approximately two weeks at low temperatures to retain the fresh, tropical fruit flavours. The wine was left on its lees for an extended period to give the palate a creamier mouthfeel. The parcels were then blended and bottled shortly after filtration.

The vine age is varied, but all vines have been spur pruned and are generally trained on a single wire cordon trellising system. The vines are planted at approximately 1.8 metres apart with 3.6 metres between the rows, to allow machinery access. The soil styles in the vineyards are loam to clay-loam in texture with moderate to high fertility.

Established by Bob and Cherie Berton in May 1996, Berton Vineyard is one of the most important wine producers in Australia. The estate covers 30 hectares of land located on gently rolling hills at 450 metres above sea level, in a subregion of Eden Valley in South Australia. The superb Reserve Shiraz and Reserve Chardonnay wines are still sourced from this plot. In 2007, Bob purchased the Yenda winery in the heart of the Riverina. This state-of-the-art facility has the capacity to process 20,000 tonnes and enables Berton Vineyard to produce value for money wines which sit alongside their premium single-vineyard offerings.