Sitting high in the Adelaide Hills, Sidewood hand craft single vineyard wines of the utmost complexity. Their Chardonnay is made up of four French Chardonnay clones from the Ashwood vineyard and shows a crisp front palate with lifted layers of aromatic fruit. Each clone provides a unique flavour profile to the end result and delivers a wine displaying complex pear, peach & fig fruit flavours with some lovely nutmeg and sage spice notes.

The fruit for this wine was grown at the Hill Smith Vineyard at Woodside in the Adelaide Hills. The vines at this east-facing vineyard grow in alluvial loam, limestone, shale and quartz, at an altitude of around 400m. Thanks to near-perfect weather, 2021 promises to be one of the best Adelaide Hills vintages in recent memory.

These traditional sparkling varieties of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier are sourced from the cool climate Adelaide Hills, and are picked early to retain high natural acidity. Small batches of these low yielding grapes are gently pressed in stainless stell basket presses. Following primary and partial malolactic fermentation the inidividual parcels are bottled and inoculated with yeast and sugar to encourage secondary fermentation. The cuvee is fermented in the bottle to develop complexity for approximately four years. This is a dry style sparkling with minerality, a crisp acid backbone and layers of flowers, fruits and toasty savoury nuances.

Handpicked and sorted. Gently wholebunch pressed. Wild ferment on full solids. 25% in old French barriques Lees stirred fortnightly. Natural sediment may occur.

When making the 2013 Sidewood Pinot Gris, winemaker Tash Mooney carefully selects the best parcels of fruit from the vineyard that are hand-picked once the Pinot Gris has reached optimum Baume. It then begins its journey through the winery from being whole bunch pressed through to the fermentation process, ensuring at all times that the wines are at optimum temperatures to ascertain the quality of the wine. The 2013 Pinot Gris is pale straw with copper-pink hues, this wine displays vibrant aromas of guava and passionfruit on the nose. This leads to an intense flavour of nashi pear and tropical fruits on the palate with great structure from the crisp and well balanced acid. With its full structure, superb minerality and generous full mid palate it finishes with outstanding length and balance. A great accompaniment to freshly seared scallops, aromatic Thai spiced dishes or enjoy with a grilled vegetable cous cous as a vegetarian option.

2021 represents another stellar release from Sidewwod, the wine has piercingly pure tropical fruits set against crushed herbs on the nose and a palate that has intensity of fruit that is met in equal measure by crunchy, textural acidity. The fruit focuses on passionfruit, with a finely filamented citrus acidity bringing the wine to life and framing excellent length that lingers with boysenberry and subtle peppery green herbs. Drink: 2021-2023. Rating: 95/100. Trophy, Best Sauvignon Blanc, Perth Royal Wine Awards 2021 Gold, Perth Royal Wine Awards 2021 Gold, China Wine & Spirits Awards 2021

The colour is vibrant pale yellow with hues of gold. The aroma is like spring in the Adelaide Hills. A veritable ripening of stone fruit, especially white peaches and nectarine in the market gardens, butter melon, rock melon and cooking leeks in butter. The French oak smells are a terrific frame for the stone fruit. Overall it has a 3 dimensional quality to the aromas, ripening stone fruit and some creamy & succulent French oak.