Ocean Eight Verve Chardonnay 2011
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2015-
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Vineyard management is meticulous; yields are comparable to Grand Cru vineyards, and the winemaking is old school, unfined, unfiltered and gravity fed. The Chardonnay is pristine, bright, mineral, racy with a range of citrus and raw nuts; there is richness with tension in this wine. The Pinot is mouth filling, rustic, earthy with red cherries, rhubarb and brown spice. Ocean Eight wines have a modern new world intensity with a rustic, old world edge and complement the modern, high end cuisine that exciting chefs are championing in Australia and the USA.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
Extending into the sea from just south of the city of Melbourne to form Port Philip Bay in the southern state of Victoria, the Mornington Peninsula grape growing region naturally has a cool, maritime climate. A wide range of soils and topographic variations support a large diversity of wine styles within the small headland.