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Boutique winemaking affords great advantages, every vine can be uniquely husbanded, quality control is maximised, each barrel can be individually sampled and assembled into the perfect cuvee. Engineering types are innately suited to such viticulture. Colin Best embarked upon his sabbatical to the great vineyards of Burgundy's Cote d'Or. He returned to plant Pinot Noir on a craggy half hectare near Lobethal in the Adelaide Hills. An ancient masonry wool mill was outfitted for winemaking and Leabrook Estate was born. This is an aesthetic range of meticulously crafted, limited vintages, fashioned for the aficianado of bespoke, small batch, little vineyard wines... The lobethal libations of leabrook»
Crafted from small parcels of single vineyard, Gippsland fruit, treated to the traditional old world regimens of whole bunch and wild yeast ferments. These are a range of new world Chardonnay and Pinot Noir to match the classic Cru La Bourgogne, the cool ripening climes provide the perfect chill to encourage velvet tannins. Home Block Chardonnay, a big burgundian style with weighty palate and outstanding length, driven by powerful orchard fruit complexity, supported by textural and seductive, creamy oak richness. Exclusively Myrtle Point grown Pinot Noir, its bright sassafras, cherry fruit complexity is supported by charming pastoral elegance, a touch of barnyard, French oak sophistication and the soundest structure... All that's good from gippsland »

Picardy Chardonnay CONFIRM VINTAGE

Chardonnay Pemberton Western Australia
Picardy is a traditional Burgundian style of Chardonnay with impressive aromatics and profound fruit character. The wine possesses all requisite floral and fine grassy sour sob/ oxalis grass characters expected in a young Burgundy. Picardy offers great texture and solid structure with high acid and extraordinarily low pH whilst retaining perfect balance. Crafted from grapes grown to four clones of vine imported from France, selected over a decade of trials out of a field of several hundred, grown to some of the most illustrious vineyards in Burgundy.
Available in cases of 6
Case of 6
$341.50
The history of Chardonnay at Picardy began when Bill and Sandra Pannell were fortunate enough to meet M. Vincent LeFlaive of the famous Puligny Montrachet, during his visit in 1989. Believing that Pemberton was ideal for the most refined styles of Chardonnay, Pannell decided to research the situation with respect to clones. Several hundred were trialled in Burgundy and four were selected, 76 and 95, 96 and 277, on the basis of the quality as opposed to yield. Twenty cuttings of each were imported into Western Australia, held in quarantine for the growing season of 1993 to 1994, replanted into the Picardy property the following spring. Picardy now has in excess of a thousand vines of each.
Bejewelled yellow colour. Bright and fresh, redolent with nectarine, while the oak adds a hint of spice and grilled nuts, very elegant, exhibiting minerally flavours, with the refinement and length of the great Burgundies, finishing on a note of citrus. The highlight is a purity of fine chardonnay fruit flavours, Picardy appeals as the quality of West Australian fruit shines within a fine Chablis styling.
Picardy
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Picardy
Picardy is a boutique vineyard and one of Australia's leading premium wine producers, established in 1993 in the Pemberton region of Western Australia

All wines bearing the Picardy label are made entirely from fruit grown on the Picardy vineyard, and are vintaged and bottled by the Pannell Family in their own winery at Picardy. Picardy is owned and operated by Bill, Sandra, Dan and Jodie Pannell. Bill and Sandra were pioneers of the Margaret River region, establishing Moss Wood vineyard and winery in 1969. Moss Wood went on to be a major driving force in establishing Margaret River as one of Australia's important growing regions. Dan has grown up in the wine industry and completed a Bachelors of Science (Oenology) at The University Of Adelaide.

Picardy

Pemberton is one of Australia's newer wine regions, located in the South West of Western Australia. The first grapes were planted in 1977, with commercial plantings expanding throughout the 1980s. Pemberton is an excellent region for viticulture because of its combination of southern latitude and high altitude, which create a relatively cool climate. This provides the grapes with a sustained ripening period. Pemberton's loamy, gravel soils and cool climate will prove it to be one of the best regions in Australia for the growing of pinot noir and chardonnay. The region is also well suited to the production of refined Bordeaux style wines.

Picardy was named after a region east of Paris. A wine merchant and family friend noted that many of the great wines and wine regions have names beginning with the letter P. Pomerol, Petrus, Pauillac and Pommard are examples. Picardy strives to continue this tradition of wine making quality and excellence.

The viticulture approach at Picardy underpins the quality of the wines, as does the Burgundy heritage of the clones. The Picardy site was chosen for its high altitude and well-drained loam/gravel soils. The vines have been close planted to promote competition between vines and maximize root depth. The vines are trained low to enable them to use heat radiating from the gravely soils in the evenings. This effectively extends the duration of the growing and ripening time per day. The entire vineyard is leaf plucked, crop thinned, picked and pruned by hand. This approach to viticulture reflects the Pannell's philosophy of being hands-on in every facet of the vineyard, winery and wine distribution.

Picardy

One of the special clones of Pinot Noir being planted post-tissue cultureDuring Bill and Sandra's involvement in Burgundy in the 1980s, they became aware of a substantial clonal selection trial, which had been carried out for more than a decade. Several hundred selections of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay taken from many of the Domaines in Burgundy were trialled. Of these, four Chardonnay (76, 95, 96 and 277) and 3 Pinot Noir clones (114, 115 and 777) were selected. These clones were chosen on the basis of the quality of wine produced from them, rather than yield.

Friends in Burgundy advised Bill and Sandra to plant a mix of all of the clones to increase the complexity of the resulting wines. Observations to date suggest that there is considerable variation among the four clones with respect to growth habits, bunch size, yields, flavour and wine structure. The Shiraz, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon are also special selections, chosen with the same emphasis on quality in mind.

Picardy wines are vintaged and bottled by the Pannell Family in their Pemberton winery, where their attention to detail and hands-on approach is reflected in the winery and wine-making. Picardy wine is produced in special tanks, designed by Bill and Dan, which can be used as open or closed fermenters. For example, they can be closed during cold maceration to prevent must oxidation, and opened for hand plunging during fermentation. All red wines are hand plunged to give softer extraction of tannins from the skins and seeds while still achieving maximum colour and flavour. These wines are then matured for twelve months in French oak barriques ranging from new to four years old.

The Chardonnay is produced in a delicate, refined style in keeping with the great wines of Burgundy. It is barrel fermented and lees aged in French oak for ten months. The bottled wines are placed into wooden bins for 3 months, and later labelled and boxed. This allows exclusion of any leaking corks or low filled bottles, thereby further ensuring the quality of the product that you receive. In 1998, Bill and Sandra went on a fact-finding mission to Burgundy, in particular to find a small, high quality barrel producer. Burgundian winemakers recommended Tonellerie Meyrieux Fils, and close inspection found this French cooper shared Picardy's desire for maximum quality.

Picardy