Xanadu Chardonnay eludes vibrant fruits of white stone fruits, zesty citrus flavours combined with a distinct minerality and crisp acidity. This is a bottle of contemporary Chardonnay, displaying classic Margaret River hallmarks. Drinks well in its youth and also reward with careful cellaring. The bouquet has a medium-full body and has a fine structure complimented with creamy texture. The vibrant fruits and crisp acidity combine to focus the wine perfectly to a lingering fruity finish.

We actually visited Xanadu in 2018 and remembered being wow-ed by their wines. We're so glad to finally have them on our site! This growing season began with a late budburst after a relatively cold Winter with reasonable rainfall. The cool Spring which followed resulted in some uneven flowering and fruit set, and generally lower than average yields.

There was a significant and unusual rain event mid-January which was timely due to the later season. This was followed by some fine, mild weather to get vintage underway. There was a complete lack of Marri blossom leading up to and during harvest which meant that bird pressure was extreme, with netting absolutely vital. The cooler ripening conditions did result in amazing flavour intensity and acid retention in the whites. There was a minor rain event coupled with high humidity mid-March which presented some challenges requiring careful fruit selection, although this gave way to some beautiful weather right through till late April.

All of the fruit for the 2019 DJL Chardonnay was Estate grown on our Stevens Road and Boodjidup Vineyards in the Wallcliffe subregion of Margaret River.

Xanadu DJL Chardonnay is made entirely from Gingin clone, the fruit was whole bunch pressed and barrel fermented in select French oak barriques (17% new oak). Wild fermentation was encouraged on all of the components in order to introduce more complexity and personality into the wine. All of the individual batches which make up the blend were lees stirred throughout a nine-month oak maturation period, without any malolactic fermentation. The final blend was put together in November 2019.