Chardonnay
75cl * 13.5% ABV * Essex, England
Michael and Heather Bunker first planted the vines for Danbury Ridge in 2014. Since then, they have been making excellent quality English still wines with their daughters Janine and Sophie. This wine is produced from a mix of clay, sand and silt soils - perfect for the cultivation of the Chardonnay vine.
Winemaker's notes on the vinification process: 'Fruit was handpicked and whole bunch pressed. With no settling, the juice was transferred to 228L Burgundian oak barrels with full solids for fermentation. The wine was then left on gross lees for 12 months, where malolactic fermentation was performed once, as the wine was transferred out of barrels to tank to give the wine further time on gross lees before bottling 6 months later. The wine was bottled unrefined.'
The hot summer of 2022, followed by low rainfall across September and October, lend a ripeness and generosity to the wine. With green fruits and citrus, it is bright and fresh, rounded out with good oak influence. Drink now-2034. It is drinking nicely now, but will mature beautifully in the next year or so.
'The 2022 Chardonnay has a taut and linear bouquet with Clementine and apricot. Fresh and vibrant, the wine opens gradually in the glass. The palate has a lovely texture, which marks it out from the previous vintage, much more weight. With very fine delineation and mineralité, it's beautifully balanced, deepening towards the finish with a prickle of stem ginger that feels more pithy and, therefore, has greater umami than the previous vintage. Superb.' 92pts - Neal Martin, Vinous (2024)