Ghost Rock Catherine Cuvee Exceptionelle 2021 - In Bond

Blend: 60% Chardonnay / 40% Pinot Noir
 
Bouquet: A highly aromatic and fragrant nose that lures you in. It has a wonderful array of ripe nashi pear, quince and lemon curd. It has subtle notes of fresh cream and brioche toast.
 
Palate: The palate is rich and complex with a lovely weight and generous texture from the lees aging. There is a decadence with the persistence of the ripe fruit flavours, balanced with natural Tasmanian acidity.
 
Vintage: 2021 was the season that made us worry and wait, but eventually delivered the sort of fruit quality and ripeness we’d been praying for. The season started with a rush of warm spring air that exploded the vines into life, before falling into a summer-slumber with cooler days and wet patches slowing things right down. A mild, dry autumn won the day though as fruit reached their perfect targets just in the nick of time. Moderate volume, high-high quality season.
 
Winemaking: The Catherine Sparkling is our classic cuvée. It’s a 60/40 blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, aged in tank and neutral oak for 6 months following fermentation, then aged a further 30+ months on bottle lees. A classic Brut style of Tasmanian sparkling.
 
Viticulture: The Chardonnay and Pinot Noir was sourced almost exclusively (80%) from our Bonadale vineyard, which is our best site for sparkling wine with its elevated slopes and lower temperature due to wind exposure. 20% was sources from our Iris vineyard, which grows our only plot of Mendoza clone Chardonnay. This highly aromatic clone has contributed to the generous bouquet on this wine.