Shaw & Smith M3 Chardonnay 2020 (Australia)

Shaw & Smith M3 Chardonnay 2020 (Australia)French oak White flowers Citrus & nectarine Bright acidity Aiming for elegance, restraint and the ability to age, acid is bright and theres generosity of flavour. Typically it shows white flowers, citrus, and nectarine notes. The 2020 vintage was very low yielding, which resulted in great concentration. The cool ripening conditions produced Chardonnay with intense flavours and excellent balance. The Shaw + Smith winery was built in 2000 giving them

• French oak
• White flowers
• Citrus & nectarine
• Bright acidity

Aiming for elegance, restraint and the ability to age, acid is bright and there’s generosity of flavour. Typically it shows white flowers, citrus, and nectarine notes. The 2020 vintage was very low yielding, which resulted in great concentration. The cool ripening conditions produced Chardonnay with intense flavours and excellent balance.

The Shaw + Smith winery was built in 2000 giving them the ability to whole-bunch press chilled grapes for the first time, and underpinning the evolution of style from that first M3 Chardonnay vintage in 2000 through to the present day. From Piccadilly, Lobethal and their Lenswood Vineyard, at 455–500 metres elevation. Undulating with east and west facing aspects, the soils are brown loams over clay with broken shale on the ridges. The vineyard was planted in 1999.

The vintage threw up a number of challenges but the weather during the ripening period was extremely kind. February saw perfectly even ripening and resulted in grapes that were small, packed with flavour, and with higher than normal acidity. Cellar now until 2029.

Hand picked and whole bunch pressed. Fermented and matured on lees in French oak barriques and puncheons.