1998 Rothbury Estate Cowra Chardonnay

Notes sourced from Southern Cross Wines.

Rothbury Cowra Chardonnay was the first widely distributed Chardonnay to come from the now famous Cowra region. The fruit for the wine is grown on Rothbury's own Cowra vineyard and is always a ripe, full-bodied style with a backbone of supporting oak.Cowra is a moderate climate region in central NSW - the warm temperatures are moderated by the altitude of the vineyards which are at around 150 metres above sea level. The region is quite dry with rain failing mainly in winter and spring. Vintage conditions in 1998 were excellent with fruit reaching full ripeness whilst retaining good levels of natural acidity.The fruit was transported to the Rothbury winery at Pokolbin in the Hunter Valley where it underwent a cool fermentation in refrigerated stainless steel tanks in order to retain maximum freshness. After ferment the wine was matured in French and American oak for six months before bottling.The 1998 Cowra Chardonnay is cast in the typical mould for this wine - the colour is straw/gold while on the nose there is a hint of toasty oak combined with melon fruit character. On the palate there is fully ripe Chardonnay characters of peach and melon and a little spice from the oak. Cellar 1-2 years. 13.2% alcohol volume.