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Bethany Wines of Barossa
Blue Quarry Chardonnay Eden Valley 2023
Blue Quarry Chardonnay Eden Valley 2023
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A beautiful wine sourced from the cooler, high altitude Eden Valley, this wine displays great verve and tension alongside its ample flavour profile. Barrel fermented with 30% new French oak there are subtle spice and umami flavours adding complexity to the green orchard and citrus fruits. Balanced and long with a bright crisp acidity and complex flavours this is a wine to be considered and enjoyed.
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Wine Details
Winemaking
The Chardonnay for this wine was sourced from a cool, high spot of the Batten Vineyard in Eden Valley. Harvested in the cool of the night and crushed and pressed in the early morning, the free run juice was then run with minimal settling into barrels for a 100% barrel ferment. On completion the wine was left on lees and lees stirred on a barrel by barrel basis for 3-6 months. Malolactic fermentation was blocked.
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Tasting Notes
Colour
Pale straw gold
Nose
Delightful, persistent nose of fine Chardonnay orchard fruit with supporting spice and cashew oak influences.
Palate
A powerful and rich palate of fresh cashews, ripe green pears, a drizzle of cream and dusting of clove spice. A full and powerful palate combines spicy green orchard fruits with mealy, creamy nuances from the lees stirring and oak adding complexity and length. The finish is soft, shapely, clean and very long.
Food Pairing
Richly flavoured white meat dishes as well as dishes with high umami content such as coq au vin blanc, lobster mornay.
Notes
Viticulture
A decently wet 2022 ensured a later start to the growing season than average for vintage 2023 with minimal soil moisture pressure. Rainfall during the harvest period presented some challenges in the vineyard but the sloping windy nature of the majority of the Bethany sites ensured that with care and attention and significant disease events were avoided. Yields were average to above average and the balance and quality arising from such a balanced and extended growing period is exceptional. Whites retained lovely natural acid and exciting levels of aromatic intensity and concentration.
Cellaring Potential
5-15 years
Technical
Oak
30% new French oak hogsheads, balanced in seasoned French oak. 11 months in oak
Alcohol: 12.7%
pH: 3.36
TA: 7.5g/L
Reviews & Awards
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Feb, 2025
Wine Pilot
Jeni Port
A barrel fermented Chardonnay in the richer, mouth-filling style and it does carry it well. Yellow peach, ripe melon, quince paste, citrus, almond meal, almond biscotti. Palate is well composed and smoothly textured with good balance achieved between ripe fruit, vanillin oak and some lively acidity. Love the finish here, it’s perfectly sunny and uplifted, taking the wine with it. The finish lingers. Should live well should you choose to put some years on it, otherwise, I would be enjoying its charms right now.
93 pts
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Dec, 2024
The Vintage Journal - SA Wine Guide 2025
Angus Hughson
A single vineyard located at high altitude in the Eden Valley, provides the fruit for this ever-so-impressive Chardonnay. Barrel fermentation with around a quarter of the oak, French, new. The wine underwent lees stirring for six months. A gleaming gold/green hue, the barrel ferment notes emerge on the nose with a lovely nutty/ cashew touch and a whiff of vanilla, all elegantly integrated. Stone fruits and peaches, with hints of figs and citrus, and a minerally backing are all evident. This is poised and intense, balanced and long in the finish. A rich and most attractive Chardonnay with hints of apple on the palate, it should drink beautifully for at least the next four to six years.
93 pts