Ocean Eight Verve Chardonnay, Mornington Peninsula

The name Verve encapsulates its style, with a vibrant perfume of Granny Smith apple, honeysuckle blossom and lime zest, which is mirrored beautifully on the palate.

Tasting Note

Leading the way for the new generation Australian Chardonnay, the name Verve encapsulates its style. A vibrant perfume of Granny Smith apple, honeysuckle blossom and lime zest is mirrored on the palate. Low alcohol thanks to the early pick style and a mouth watering finish.

Producer Note

Owned by the Aylward family - founders of the renowned Kooyong winery - Ocean Eight was established in 2004 in the southern and cooler side of Mornington Peninsula. In their state-of-the-art, temperature controlled, gravity fed winery, winemaker Mike Aylward produces stunning cool climate Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, taking influence from the great old world wine regions of Alsace, Burgundy and Champagne. All the grapes for the Ocean Eight wines are sourced from the family’s 17 hectares of vineyard and their total production each year is just 5,000 cases.

Vineyard

The grapes come from a 2.5 hectare block of Chardonnay in an established vineyard of 20 year old vines. The clones are a mix of P58, I10, 96 and 277. Situated at an elevation of 65 metres with a north-western orientation, the vineyard has great airflow, which minimises disease pressure as the canopy dries quickly. The soil is sandy loam which provides excellent drainage, essential nutrients for vine health and imparts a minerality to the flavour profile.

Winemaking

The fruit was picked to highlight the citrus spectrum, in particular grapefruit, hence the name ‘Verve’ which accurately describes the racy character of this wine. The must was cold fermented, slowly over a period of four to six weeks in order to maximise the aromatic expression. The wine was then pressed and gravity fed directly into old oak barrels of six to eight years, in the underground barrel room. The wine spent 11 months in oak and was fined with bentonite, prior to bottling.

Serving Suggestion

This is the perfect match with oysters, prawn tempura or whitebait. 

Grape

Chardonnay 100%