Ministry Of Clouds, Chardonnay, Tasmania, Australia, 2016

Lightly toasted with spice and delicate flowers notes on the nose. Lovely ripeness, an expansive texture and gentle acidity combine well on the palate to give a robust yet balanced mouthfeel. Stone fruit carries impressively long into the finish.

Ministry of Clouds is a virtual winery, where Bernice Ong and Julian Forwood seek out the best old vine plots from across Australia to make terroir-focussed wines. Grapes for this wine come mainly from the 36 year old Meadowbank vineyard, at a height of 75m in the Derwent Valley, as well as some Tamar Valley fruit. The whole-bunch, basket-pressed juice goes straight into old barrels and after a wild-yeast fermentation the wine is matured in second-fill oak for 11 months with no malolactic fermentation. It's round and supple in the mouth, but with enough minerally acidity to balance the nutty, exotic fruit. Long, complex and exciting.