Southern Light Vineyards Seven Slopes of Rising Chardonnay 2024

This is from the Yarra Valley in what was a cool and wet year resulting in wines that are generally finer and more linear than some previous vintages. In the making, the batches of Bernard and I-10V5 clones were kept separate until being pulled together for final blending. Whole bunch pressing to French oak and a mix of hogsheads and puncheons with about thirty-five percent new. It was wild yeast fermented and just a small amount of malolactic fermentation, presumably to bring some texture into this finer vintage. It’s a lovely powdery, talcy aromatic with a sort of lemon pith edge to it. The palate is precise and linear, but with a crisp, stony, pebbly feel to it that adds to its complexity and structural appeal. An attractive wine.