Description
This is one of those rare vinous once-in-a-lifetime, money-cannot-buy (well… except it kind of can) experiences. The year is 2008, Obama is making his first run for the Big House, the Kings of Leon are top of the Hottest 100, the Hottest 100 is still on January 26th, and Ma Fleur is born – our flagship Chardonnay… but for this one barrel. It was new French oak and, frankly, we just didn’t love the toast and so back it went, way back to the recesses of the barrel room. For a time, it was topped annually and then – as the years rolled on and a decade and a half rolled past (past Mumford & Sons, past Macklemore, past Rudd and Gillard and Rudd again, past a global pandemic), at some point the topping ceased and the barrel just sat. A light dusting of flor developed across the surface, locking in and evolving a little window to our past. The toast we didn’t love has given way to cultured butter and grapefruit pith, the very characters you’d expect from 15-year-barrelled Chardonnay made in a hot vintage but with a firm line of acidic structure. Hints of cashew. Drink history.
