2023 Blind Corner Quindalup Chardonnay Aligoté

The fruit comes from a single block of Gingin clone Chardonnay (92%) and a small adjacent plot of Aligoté (8%). Blind Corner's 150 or so 10-year-old Aligoté vines are believed to be Margaret River's only plot of this variety, and Gould is slowly grafting over more Chardonnay to bulk out the plantings. The Chardonnay block is very low-yielding, and the vines are over 20 years old. The fruit was pressed to a combination of stainless steel (75%) and concrete egg (25%) for fermentation. Malolactic conversion occurred in the same vessels, and the wine was left to rest for 12 months on lees before bottling. It only received a rough filtering to “keep the wine as close to the vineyard as possible,” as Gould puts it. From a killer vintage, it's bustlingly bright and pulpy with racy texture and delicious, sappy length. A whole lot of wine for the price.