2023 Sailor Seeks Horse Chardonnay

WINEMAKER: Paul & Gilli Lipscombe
REGION: Huon Valley, TAS
VARIETY: Chardonay
VITICULTURE: Certified Organic

In warmer regions you often get either breadth or precision but rarely both. We like to think our wines combine the two and never more so than in this Chardonnay. It has length, persistence and generosity combined with that saline character we see each year, all supported with some delicious new French oak.

So, in our pursuit to produce the country’s best Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, we headed to Tasmania and after scouring the state, we decided on the Huon Valley. Neither too dry nor too wet, too warm nor too cold and with two of the most awarded vineyards in Tasmania (Elsewhere and Home Hill), the industry had barely scratched the surface of the myriad of microclimates within the valley. Within a few weeks of arriving, we stumbled upon a dilapidated 6.5ha vineyard, planted in 2005 and then walked away from. Opportunity beckoned. NE-facing slope, sheltered from the prevailing cold south-westerly and planted to six different clones of Pinot; perfect. Half the vines were dead, blackberry above our heads and about one hundred trees littered the vineyard; not-so-perfect. But it wouldn’t be satisfying if it wasn’t challenging. That was one of the reasons we decided to change our lives. If you love what you do and have a plan, then it doesn’t matter what the challenges are, they are surmountable and all-the-more rewarding.