2021 Joshua Cooper Dash Chardonnay
WINEMAKER: Joshua Cooper
REGION: Central Victoria, VIC
VARIETAL: Chardonnay
VITICULTURE: Organic/Sustainable
Pale, with a green edge Dash Farm offers glass filling aromas of lemon and grapefruit rind, nectarine, jasmine and spice. Flavours with carry through to the medium bodied palate combined with creamy, savoury complexity and a fine acid line. | Planted 1999 Dash Farms sits perched at over 450m above sea level on the southern granitic slopes of Mt Alexander (Leanganook) looking back towards Mt Macedon and the Macedon Ranges. Like Ray-Monde, it sits just outside the Macedon Ranges GI. Ripening for Chardonnay occurs around a week earlier than my family’s vineyard Cobaw Ridge. These lean granite soils and high altitude confer both concentration and freshness at low sugar levels.
Once hand harvested with careful sorting in the vineyard, the bunches were partially crushed by foot and very gently pressed. Overnight settling then occurs before transfer to a combination of new Stockinger 300l oak and Burgundian piece for fermentation and lees ageing for 12 months. Followed by four months in stainless steel on fine lees, before racking and bottling, unfined and unfiltered. The only addition to the wine is a small dose of sulphur.
The son of biodynamic power couple Alan & Nelly Cooper of Cobaw Ridge, Joshua Cooper is one of the most exciting young winemakers in Australia. Unbelievable precision and focus. Tiny quantities, high demand, a producer to watch.