2021 Shy Susan Chardonnay, Alpine Valleys

Made from low-yielding 1066 clone grown on the Greenacres vineyard, matured in one-year-old French hogsheads (50%) and older oak (50%). After previously sourcing fruit from Tasmania, Shy Susan looks to the Alpine Valleys for inspiration in ’21. The style remains a blend of ripe fruit and scintillating cool-climate acidity. Grapefruit, melon, green apple, peach, toasted almond and spice are the basis for a thoroughly tasty, mealy savoury expression of the grape. Finishes acid bright and clean. 50 dozen made.

91 points Jeni Port winecompanion.com.au

“Shy Susan (Tetratheca gunnii) is a critically endangered Australian wildflower. Her survival depends completely on a little native bee, who alone is capable of pollination. Their fate is forever entwined”.

After working with Tasmanian fruit for nearly two decades Glenn James with his wife, Jo Marsh began crafting wines under their newly created Shy Susan label in 2015. The couple lived in Porepunkah in the Alpine Valleys region and Glenn commuted to Tasmania weekly for his role as Chief Winemaker at Winemaking Tasmania. When Jo fell pregnant in late 2019 Glenn made the decision to leave his role and work fulltime with Jo in the Alpine Valleys. Having many years to experience the quality of fruit the Alpine Valleys had to offer they decided to continue the Shy Susan brand with local fruit. Select small parcels of fruit are crafted to reflect variety, vineyard and the stylistic approach forged from Glenn’s skill and experience.

Production Notes

Brian Lewis planted the recently imported Entav-Intra® 1066 clone Chardonnay at his Greenacres vineyard in Merriang South in 2015. The clone is described as very low yielding with very small bunches producing richly flavoured wines with fine structure, and it has certainly proven to do exactly that.
Hand picked (an excruciating task with such tiny bunches) and whole bunch pressed, then filled to barrel with all the goodness of full solids. Fermentation occurs in barrel with a combination of selected wine yeasts. Wines are aged on lees for 9 months, with minimal stirring and sulphur added as required to each individual barrel. Some malolactic fermentation was also allowed to occur during maturation. Continuing in the style of previous releases of this wine, no new oak was used. Instead a combination of one year old and older oak ensures a seamless integration and harmonious balance.

Technical details
Vineyard:         Greenacres Vineyard – Merriang South
Region:            Alpine Valleys
Alcohol:           13.0%