2022 Ministry of Clouds Adelaide Hills Chardonnay

96 pts
Elegant Adelaide Hills Chardonnay named in James Halliday's Top 100 Wines of the Year.

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Description

96 points & Top 100 Wines of the Year
"Part came from Birdwood, but it’s the Piccadilly portion that provides the quality of this beautifully cadenced chardonnay... Expensive to make, quality the dividend."
- James Halliday (The Weekend Australian)

Ministry of Clouds duo Bernice and Julian Forwood Ong tend to reverse engineer their wines.

It starts with finding a wine style they love, then they go hunting for the source. If they knock on the door and can't buy the fruit, they try the next door. When you know what you want - go and get it.

This Chardonnay comes from a glorious plot of vines in the famed Piccadilly sub-region of the Adelaide Hills - the perfect cool climate for delivering elegant, streamlined Chardonnay with finesse.

The clean lines of quartz-like minerality that run through the wine are quintessential Adelaide Hills Chardonnay. Long, lean, elegant and balanced on a knife's edge, this Chardonnay is a thing of beauty.

96 points & Top 100 Wines of the Year - "Part came from Birdwood, but it’s the Piccadilly portion that provides the quality of this beautifully cadenced chardonnay, malolactic fermentation for 30% of the wine after fermentation in new and used French oak, plus nine months’ maturation. Expensive to make, quality the dividend." - James Halliday (The Weekend Australian)


Taste of freedom…

Without having the luxury (or limitation!) of a pre-ordained family history in wine, we relish the freedom and opportunity to cast our net a little wider from our home in McLaren Vale, hoping to capture the freshness and vibrancy of the cool Adelaide Hills…

Composition
A pure and tightly wound wine showing the muscle and intensity of the low yielding Birdwood site, and the fragile acid line synonymous with fine, late ripening and deeply cool Piccadilly Valley Chardonnay. A shy and somewhat restrained nose exuding white flowers, green nectarine characters, and subtle hints of nougat and gingery wood spice. On the palate, a bedrock of chalky minerality supports a core of intense stone fruit, framing its lingering acidity.

Consumption
Ideal serving temperature is 12°C, and we love this wine with a simple chicken with 40 cloves of garlic, duck fat roast dutch cream potatoes and steamed baby green beans. Drink up to 8 years for a more complex expression.

Price Bracket $41 to $50
Type White
Body Full Bodied
Variety Chardonnay
Country Australia
Region Adelaide Hills
Australian State TAS
Feature Women in Wine
High Score
Reviewed By The Weekend Australian
Critic Score 96
Size 750ml
Vintage 2022
Closure Screw Cap

Ministry of Clouds

Ministry of Clouds is a partnership between wine industry 'veterans' Bernice Ong and Julian Forwood, who set up the venture in 2013, with their first releases coming in 2015.

Having worked for some of Australia's leading wineries such as Yalumba and Wirra Wirra, the duo began sourcing outstanding fruit from Tasmania and Clare Valley for white wines, and McLaren Vale for reds.

McLaren Vale is their home, and as well as their own 11ha plot, they seek out old vineyards around the peninsula, with a focus on Grenache, Mataro, Shiraz and Tempranillo, along with the occasional foray into Carignan and Picpoul.

Bernice Ong and Julian Forwood Discover Ministry of Clouds

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