Trentham Estate Chardonnay is not your typical Australian Chardonnay. It doesn't have the big punchy oak flavours with which Australian offerings so often come but it is far more subtle. It is pale straw in colour, with aromas of citrus, stone fruits and subtle oak on the nose. Flavours of nectarine and white peach on the palate are complimented by lightly toasted oak notes. Balanced, long and soft. A wine of class and breeding, not lacking in flavour but rather tasting as if it comes from a grape rather than a tree!!
- Country: Australia
- Region: South Australia
- Subregion: Murray Darling
- Vintage: 2019
- Colour: White
- Grape Variety: Chardonnay
- ABV: 13.5%
- Bottle Size: 75cl
- Closure: Screwcap
- Style: Citrus and gentle toast
- Drink With: Roast chicken
Once harvested, the fruit was crushed and pressed, the juice was cold settled and racked to ferment. The fermentation was carried out with selected yeasts and a portion of the wine was fermented in 500 litre French oak puncheons. After ageing, the oaked and unoaked portions of this Trentham Estate Chardonnay were blended and bottled.
Why we like this wine
Too many Australian Chardonnays are simply over-oaked and over here. Not with this one. It has still got good body and flavour but it is far more discreet than many offerings. Chardonnay fell from grace with many wine drinkers because halfway down the bottle they became boring to drink as they were just aged in too mush oak or in fact, oak chippings or staves had been used to add flavour but no oxygen, the true reason for using an oak barrel. Tony Murphy has got this spot on with part of the wine being aged in large oak barrels that don't impart too much oak flavour and the rest simply aged in tank to preserve the fresh notes of stone fruits. A top offering from a top producer.
- Perfect use of oak
- A wine of elegance and class
- Plenty of fine peach/nectarine character that is a hallmark of Chardonnay
- Excellent value
About the grower
This family-owned, boutique winery is set right on the banks of the Murray River at Trentham Cliffs, just outside Mildura. The Murphy family arrived in Australia in 1909 from Ireland and so are numbered among the Irish "winegeese" who, from the 18th century onwards, engaged in the wine trade in the countries of their adoption and were instrumental in the viticultural development of some of the finest wine-growing areas of the world. Today, the many and illustrious wines and labels of the Winegeese have become synonymous with quality on the international market.
Trentham’s winery has been operating since 1988, where it has grown from the initial 30 tonne crush to a minimal but state-of-the-art facility handling up to 5,000 tonnes of top quality grapes each vintage. It allows the flexibility to perform different winemaking styles, resulting in the diverse and always consistent Trentham Estate wines. Today, Anthony is assisted with the making of Trentham’s wines by winemakers Shane Kerr and Mark Holm, along with a dedicated team of cellar and laboratory staff. The winemaking philosophy at Trentham Estate has always been to produce high-quality, monovarietal wines at an affordable price, with an emphasis on full fruit flavour and enjoyment. Anthony and his brother Patrick have a passion for producing wines that are true to their varietal character, as well as experimenting with lesser-known grape varieties that are likely to thrive in the Mediterranean climate of Mildura and the Murray Darling region.
The 46 hectares that make up Trentham Estate’s vineyards sit on a winding banks of the Murray River at Trentham Cliffs. The ideal terroir of red loam over limestone soils, combined with nurturing water from the Murray River, allows the vines to flourish. Meticulously managed by viticulturist Patrick Murphy, the vineyards today are planted with over twenty different grape varieties and the oldest vines were planted over half a century ago. Harvest at Trentham typically begins in mid to late January – slightly earlier than in most Australian wine regions due to the warmer climate of the Murray Darling area. Grapes are picked and crushed at optimum ripeness to retain the perfect flavours in the wines.
The fruit for the sparkling wines and the varieties made into lower-alcohol styles, such as Sémillon, is harvested first. The other white and red varieties follow during February and March, according to their levels of ripeness. The very last grape variety to go through the crusher is the Taminga in April or May. This allows the fruit for the noble dessert wine to develop good levels of botrytis which encourages sugar concentration and development of flavour. The fruit for Trentham’s Family Reserve range of wines is transported from its growing region directly to Trentham Estate as soon as harvesting is complete. This allows the grapes to be loaded into the crusher within hours, pressed, fermented and the wine transferred to French and American oak barrels for maturation. Trentham Estate also sources parcels of high-quality fruit from a number of local growers each vintage.
About the grower
This family-owned, boutique winery is set right on the banks of the Murray River at Trentham Cliffs, just outside Mildura. The Murphy family arrived in Australia in 1909 from Ireland and so are numbered among the Irish "winegeese" who, from the 18th century onwards, engaged in the wine trade in the countries of their adoption and were instrumental in the viticultural development of some of the finest wine-growing areas of the world. Today, the many and illustrious wines and labels of the Winegeese have become synonymous with quality on the international market.
Trentham’s winery has been operating since 1988, where it has grown from the initial 30 tonne crush to a minimal but state-of-the-art facility handling up to 5,000 tonnes of top quality grapes each vintage. It allows the flexibility to perform different winemaking styles, resulting in the diverse and always consistent Trentham Estate wines. Today, Anthony is assisted with the making of Trentham’s wines by winemakers Shane Kerr and Mark Holm, along with a dedicated team of cellar and laboratory staff. The winemaking philosophy at Trentham Estate has always been to produce high-quality, monovarietal wines at an affordable price, with an emphasis on full fruit flavour and enjoyment. Anthony and his brother Patrick have a passion for producing wines that are true to their varietal character, as well as experimenting with lesser-known grape varieties that are likely to thrive in the Mediterranean climate of Mildura and the Murray Darling region.
The 46 hectares that make up Trentham Estate’s vineyards sit on a winding banks of the Murray River at Trentham Cliffs. The ideal terroir of red loam over limestone soils, combined with nurturing water from the Murray River, allows the vines to flourish. Meticulously managed by viticulturist Patrick Murphy, the vineyards today are planted with over twenty different grape varieties and the oldest vines were planted over half a century ago. Harvest at Trentham typically begins in mid to late January – slightly earlier than in most Australian wine regions due to the warmer climate of the Murray Darling area. Grapes are picked and crushed at optimum ripeness to retain the perfect flavours in the wines.
The fruit for the sparkling wines and the varieties made into lower-alcohol styles, such as Sémillon, is harvested first. The other white and red varieties follow during February and March, according to their levels of ripeness. The very last grape variety to go through the crusher is the Taminga in April or May. This allows the fruit for the noble dessert wine to develop good levels of botrytis which encourages sugar concentration and development of flavour. The fruit for Trentham’s Family Reserve range of wines is transported from its growing region directly to Trentham Estate as soon as harvesting is complete. This allows the grapes to be loaded into the crusher within hours, pressed, fermented and the wine transferred to French and American oak barrels for maturation. Trentham Estate also sources parcels of high-quality fruit from a number of local growers each vintage.