The Dome Chardonnay 2021

Harvest Description

The weather was moderate during the post-harvest period, which led to leaves falling later than normal and vines building up good reserves. Winter was colder than the previous season, with much higher rainfall, which replenished water resources and led to sufficient cold accumulation to break dormancy. The cold and wet weather continued into spring, which contributed to homogenous, but delayed bud-break and initial growth. Flowering and set were mostly efficient and even, while shoot and leaf growth picked up the pace by the start of November, which necessitated additional inputs to manage the fast and vigorous growth. Temperatures remained moderate during the summer, which slowed down ripening and resulted in harvest time starting out around two weeks later than normal. There were also almost no characteristic heatwaves, and the lower day and night temperatures throughout the season led to us waiting patiently for grapes to reach optimum ripeness. During the second half of February, we experienced 170mm of rain in 6 days which is very unusual for that time of the year. That put extra pressure on us to keep the late ripening varietals healthy while we patiently waited for them to ripen. The slower ripening and cool conditions however resulted in good colour extraction, low pH levels and high natural acidity, which all point to exceptional quality wines. In general, a smaller crop, but outstanding quality grapes, resulting in great wines with good ageing potential