Patrick Sullivan Black Sands Chardonnay 2024

This vineyard is located a short distance to the west of the township of
Heywood in western Victoria. Planted in 1990 by Alistair and Alice Taylor,
the vineyard has produced some of the most interesting and pronounced
chardonnay grown in Australia. The soil is a unique shallow blend of black
volcanic sand and basalt over pure white limestone that runs deep.

The fruit was hand harvested into 450kg bins, chilled overnight and transferred to the winery, and then whole-cluster crushed into the press and drained off into tank for settling. Primary fermentation took place in barrique (30% new) over three weeks followed by complete malolactic fermentation. Lees stirring occurred twice towards the end of primary fermentation then once more at the completion of malolactic fermentation. The wine was then aged in barrique for eleven months.