Product Profile
Ocean Eight 'Verve' Chardonnay 2010
Medium Bodied, Dry, White, Chardonnay, Drink now or cellar, 12.5% alc.
Tasting Notes
The inspiration for the Ocean Eight Verve Chardonnay comes from the region of Chablis. The chardonnay grapes for this wine are the earliest picked on the Mornington Peninsula with the exception of fruit for Sparkling. The wine is stored for 10-12 months on full solids in ‘old’ oak barrels. The aim is to maintain excellent natural acidity that will enable the wine to age well. There is no new oak used in this wine. As with our pinot noir we want to highlight the fruit spectrum of racy lemon/lime acidity without coating the wine with unbalancing oak flavours. This is the reason we call our Chardonnay Verve (lively). It is a descriptor for the racy acidity that trademarks this wine year in year out.
The Ocean Eight Verve Chardonnay is a very subtle wine! There are macadamia-nut aromas with some clove spices from barrel fermentation. The fruit is very much in the lime and grapefruit spectrum. The finish is the highlight with a racy acid and mineral mouth-feel up the centre of the pallet. This wine will match well with Oysters, Scallops and other subtle seafood dishes.
Producer
Ocean Eight
Ocean Eight is owned by the Aylward family who have been located in Shoreham on the Mornington Peninsula since 1994. In 1996 a site was carefully selected and planting commenced. A large winery was constructed where the fruit would be processed by hand and made into high quality wine. This vineyard was named ‘Kooyong'. In 2004 Kooyong was sold to the owners of Port Phillip Estate. Chris, Gail and their son Mike wanted to remain in the wine business and planned on creating a new wine brand. The name 'Ocean Eight' was chosen as the Winery is located 8km from the beach at Shoreham. While an optimal vineyard site was being researched to produce high quality fruit, the Aylwards converted a stable yard at their property in Shoreham into a small gravity fed winery. All the detail was included to ensure top quality wines could be achieved. All Ocean Eight's wines are made in small quantities/batches to ensure high quality and a focused style. The Pinot Gris grapes were picked ripe and the fermentation took place in old used barrels. The intention is to highlight the richness of the variety yet keep the wine dry at the finish.