Elanto Chardonnay 2024

One evening in 2017, Sandro Mosele and Tony Todaro met at a French wine tasting in a Melbourne restaurant. They immediately connected, and over time began to discuss Australian wine and what the future might hold.

They knew from the start that a high-density vineyard planted on a special site was what they wanted. A site with an easterly aspect and a free draining soil conducive to deep rooted vines.

In 2018 they found an interesting property that they thought could tick all the boxes. It was in Balnarring, with a cool south easterly aspect and volcanic soil. It was about the same time they met French soil scientist/microbiologist and terroir expert Claude Bourguignon, who by chance, happened to be in Australia. Claude reinforced their belief that true site expression comes from deep rooted vines. They asked him to survey the property, and his report confirmed the site had great potential.

This wine is a blend of the 3 Chardonnay vineyards (lieux-dits); Verge, Buckshot and Seawinds.

Each vineyard was picked and vinified separately. The fruit was hand sorted and then whole bunch pressed with the juice run direct to a mix of new and older French oak barriques. Similar to the previous vintage, a natural fermentation completed over the coming months. More of the barrels underwent malolactic fermentation as Sandro sought the tactile notes of MLF, and the savoury, reductive characters that malo lees can contribute. There is already a whisper of chalk and gunflint, which will undoubtedly intensity with bottle age.

In total the wine spent 10 months in barrel before being transferred to large concrete vats for a further 2 months, followed by further maturation in stainless steel before bottling. Diam 30 closure.