Shaw + Smith M3 Chardonnay 2019
Style:
Aiming for elegance, restraint and the ability to age, acid is bright and there’s generosity of flavour.
Typically it shows white flowers, citrus, and nectarine notes.
The 2019 vintage was defined by tiny yields, great acid levels and warm temperatures.
This has produced an M3 of power, persistence and balance.
Season:
The 2019 growing season was one that challenged even the most experienced and well equipped vignerons.
Those that made the most of it produced small crops of very clean fruit with wonderful flavour and intensity.
Natural acidity is a feature in all of the wines despite the warm dry summer.
Source:
From Piccadilly, Lobethal and our 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.
Vinification:
Hand picked and whole bunch pressed.
Fermented and matured on lees in French oak barriques and puncheons.
Background:
The Shaw + Smith winery was built in 2000 giving us the ability to whole-bunch press chilled grapes for the first time, and underpinning the evolution of style from that first M3 Chardonnay vintage in 2000 through to the present day.
The most significant event since then came in 2012 with the purchase of the Lenswood vineyard.
Ideal serving temperature: 10-12°C.
Cellar potential: Now until 2029.