2022 Kevin John
This wine is harvested in Kevin John’s 100th birth year. Harvested from 3 separate Wente clone chardonnay blocks, planted in 1976 and 1988, on their own roots, yielding 1.8 tonnes per hectare.
Hand Harvested around the biodynamic calendar over 8 different harvest times from the 3rd to the 21st February. The fermentation took place in 50% new biodynamic puncheons, where it was left to mature for a further 6 months. Battonage during fermentation and no fining filtration or cold stabilisation to bottle.
Vintage Notes
2022 vintage grew wines of immense perfume and texture. The cooler season and low yields ensured that the health of the vines and hence the fruit quality. Exceptionally good for chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and of course Cabernet Sauvignon.
Winemaker Notes
V ineyard: 100% Cullen Vineyard
Varieties: 100% Chardonnay
Harvest: Picked on Fruit and Flower days between the 3rd and 17th February including one pick on a full Moon, Moon opposite Saturn Fruit day.
Oak: 6 months in 50% now oak
Alcohol: 13.5%
Tasting Notes
Reviews
Author: Ray Jordan Publication: Wine Pilot Score: 98 points‘The approach to viticulture and then winemaking means that this wonderful chardonnay from the 2022 vintage is as pure as you can get. It all sort of just happens under the umbrella of a fastidious and rigorously uncompromising biodynamic discipline. The aromas are immediately complex and engaging with traces of talc and lime, a little pear and some nice roasted cashew. The palate kicks in with its power and precision displaying attractive savoury minerality, a little spice and vanilla bean and a rich buttery though controlled textural feel in the mouth. The purity and expression of place is heightened by the fact it is bottle unfined and unfiltered. This is a window into one of the finest vineyards in the land.’
Author: Gary Walsh Publication: The Wine Front Score: 95+ points'It's a powerful and dry spicy wine. Lemon peel, cinnamon, clove spice, pear, fresh pineapple, apricot, ripe lime, and roasted peanuts. It's flinty, zesty, with slight oak. Still, the fruit swallows it up and carries on with aniseed, dried pear, lavish spice, tight grapefruity acidity, very intense chamomile and ginger on a finish of superb length. Chalky, spicy, oaky, a whole lot of Chardonnay power here, it's bursting with vitality, and it's pretty full on as a young wine, like staring at the sun. But give it time, and it should reward most handsomely.'
Author: Erin Larkin Publication: Robert Parker Wine Advocate Score: 97 points‘The Chardonnays I have tasted so far from the 2022 vintage in Margaret River remind me of the 2014s, in their soft acidity and primal, almost unbound fruit power. Here, the 2022 Kevin John Chardonnay leads with crushed nuts, salted yellow peach, red apple skins, preserved citrus rind, yuzu, green tea and saltbush, before tumbling into the flavours in the mouth. Toffee apple, nuts, curry leaf and saffron. Concentrated, piercing and intense. The acid envelops the tongue and holds it hostage, while the fruit explodes with power. The Gingin clone is on show here. The wine trails to a soft, juicy finish. It is lingering, very good, excellent, even better after a gentle decant and served in a big Burgundy glass. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.’
$180.00
Previous Releases
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2020 Kevin John
The 2020 Kevin John is made from the Wente Clone planted in 1976 on Cullen Vineyard. The soil is forest grove and mostly southerly slope or level. The vines are certified biodynamic, and in 2020 produced a yield of 1.3 tonnes per hectare.
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2017 Kevin John
This is a wine defined by great purity, elegance and a fantastic acid backbone: a vintage destined for great ageing potential.
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2019 Kevin John
This wine, our flagship 2019 Kevin John has been sourced from our old chardonnay vines planted in 1976-1988. They are Gin Gin Clone, also known as the Old Wente Clone originally from UC Davis. They produce tiny yields of the best quality fruit.
Read moreView Tasting Notes -
2018 Kevin John
This wine, our flagship 2018 Kevin John has been sourced from our old chardonnay vines planted in 1976-1988. They are Gin Gin Clone, also known as the Old Wente Clone originally from UC Davis. They produce tiny yields of the best quality fruit. This year it was 2.75 tonnes per hectare of certified biodynamic, carbon negative fruit, how wonderful!
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