{"product_id":"2023-swinging-bridge-hill-park-chardonnay","title":"2023 Swinging Bridge Hill Park Chardonnay","description":"\u003cp\u003eBlock 7 at Swinging Bridge's Hill Park Vineyard is one of the last parcels in Orange to ripen each year, and that long, slow hang time is the whole point. Sitting at 900 metres on a south-facing slope with east-west rows, it's about as cool-climate as Chardonnay gets in New South Wales.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTom Ward's family has farmed around Canowindra since 1867, and he's now firmly among the region's leading growers, named Vigneron of the Year at the 2024 Orange Wine Show for his work on this very vineyard. The block's three soil types are farmed separately. The Hill Park sits in the Single Vineyard Series, made only when the season delivers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e2023 was a strange one. A cold, wet spring meant late budburst and small bunches, so the team opened up the canopy with plenty of leaf plucking and thinning, before a warm January to March brought the fruit to full ripeness with the natural acidity still intact. The juice went to barrel with a fair amount of solids, fermented wild and spent seven months in French hogsheads and puncheons (20% new), with each barrel stirred to its own needs.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt's beautiful, elegant Chardonnay - all citrus, white nectarine and a little flint, then fills out on the palate with creamy lemon curd and a waxy texture and feel - all held in check by bright acidity and a tight mineral edge. Compact and fine right now, it'll age slowly and well. Serious Orange Chardonnay from a site and a grower at the top of their game.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e95 points\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"With its fine silhouette indicative of the mixed climatic vintage, this will continue to age slowly and steadily.\"\u003cbr\u003e- Shanteh Wale (Halliday Wine Companion)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e95 points\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Cracking wine... It makes quality look easy.\"\u003cbr\u003e- Campbell Mattinson (The Wine Front)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e","brand":"Swinging Bridge","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":68195967762475,"sku":"2023 Swinging Bridge Hill Park Chardonnay","price":79.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2572\/9722\/files\/2021SwingingBridgeHillParkChardonnay_46384ad7-35a2-402f-931f-b56ed864f182.webp?v=1794529273","url":"https:\/\/www.differentdrop.com\/products\/2023-swinging-bridge-hill-park-chardonnay","provider":"Different Drop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}