2024 Gentle Folk Basket Range Chardonnay

95 pts
Debut release of a new Chardonnay from a vineyard not far from Gentle Folk HQ.

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Sale price$75.00
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Description

This is the first single-vineyard release from Gentle Folk’s new Somerset site in Basket Range - and what a debut it is. The vineyard sits on a steep, north-facing slope just across the valley from the Belton family home, surrounded by native forest and bathed in afternoon light. It’s only 2.5 hectares, planted in 1996, but the site has quickly proven itself as something special.

The red clay and sandstone soils give the wine real shape and power, while the schist and quartz running through the slope keep everything tight and mineral. The result is a Chardonnay that’s bold yet balanced, full of stone fruit and citrus with a fine, chalky texture and a long, saline finish.

Whole-bunch pressed, wild fermented, and aged for 11 months in French and Austrian oak (20% new), it went through full malo and was bottled without fining or filtration.

The 2024 release shows exactly why Gareth Belton was drawn to this site - it has the energy and precision you expect from the Hills, but with a bit more weight and flesh. A brilliant new addition to the Gentle Folk lineup and one to watch in the years ahead.

95 points
"Minerally and tightly wound, with aromas of grilled lemons, salted nuts, white orchard fruit and slate. The palate is mid-weighted and textural, with refined, focused acidity supported by a solid core of fruit. Poised and elegant, with a slight phenolic edge. Drink or hold."
- Ryan Montgomery (James Suckling)

Campbell Mattinson

Campbell Mattinson

campbellmattinson.com 95 Points

This chardonnay is drastically good. It’s mellifluous. It has texture, flavour, intensity and length but it’s the wine’s softness and character that really seduces. It tastes of lemon, white peach, pears and custard powder, with honeysuckle notes floating over the top. It’s gorgeous. If you met it in a bar you wouldn’t be able to stop yourself from asking it for its phone number or instagram handle or LinkedIn account or anything to keep it as part of your life. 95+ points.

A vineyard we have been working with for some time but the first single vineyard release from it - 2.5 ha in Basket Range, across the valley from our home, its very steep. beautiful and surrounded by native forest. Similar in profile to Ashton, the Basket Range vineyard has some beautiful red clay soil and a northerly aspect resulting in a wine with boldness and texture and some beautiful stone fruit characters and retaining that great line of acid we get in the Hills.

Vineyard: Somerset, Basket Range

Planted: 1996

Clones: I10V1

Elevation: 440m

Aspect: N

Soil: Light loamy clay over sandstone with extensive schist and quartz rubble.

Vinification: Whole bunches were pressed to tank for settling over night before racking off heavy solids to barrel. The wine spent 11 months in French and Austrian oak, 20% new, before racking to tank for three months and then bottled. 100% full malolactic fermentation.

Harvest date: 27 February 2024

Bottled: 23 May 2025

Alc: 13.1%

pH: 3.33

TA: 5.4 g/L

Production: 1501 bottles

Price Bracket $51 to $100
Type White
Body Medium Bodied
Variety Chardonnay
Country Australia
Region Adelaide Hills
Australian State SA
Feature High Score
Reviewed By James Suckling
The Wine Front
Halliday Wine Companion
Size 750ml
Vintage 2024
Closure Cork

Gentle Folk

Gareth and Rainbo Belton are the Gentle Folks, both in name and in sensibility. They are gentle, soulful people, both originally seaweed experts, who turned their hands to farming grapes with an organic and sustainable approach. Today they are crafting some of the most legitimately exciting and exceptional Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in the Adelaide Hills and are firmly rooted in the upper echelon of Australia's lo-fi wine scene.

Their wines cover multiple sub-regions across the Adelaide Hills. There are no additions during the winemaking process, save for a splash of SO2 at bottling to keep the wines pristine as they travel from the Beltons' home to yours. The worlds of fine wine and natural wine collide in the Gentle Folk range. They are beautiful people making increasingly breathtaking wines that you definitely want to check out.

Gareth Belton in one of his vineyards - Basket Range, Adelaide Hills, SA Gentle Folk

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