2023 Quealy Musk Creek Chardonnay

• Producer: Quealy
• Varietal: Sauvignon Blanc
• Region: Mornington Peninsula
• Alcohol: 12.8%
• Net volume: 750ml
• Vintage: 2023

Last year marked Quealy’s first foray into Chardonnay. With Tom McCarthy now playing a prominent role in the day-to-day running of things chez Quealy, it was only a matter of time before it was added to the lineup. After all, he has extensive experience with the variety through his one-time side project, Kerri Greens, and—well, this is Mornington. Quealy sources its Chardonnay from a one-hectare plot of vines on Musk Creek Vineyard in Main Ridge. This well-established, dry-grown site is already a source of Pinot Noir for the team and is highly regarded for producing top-quality Mornington Chardonnay. Perched atop Main Ridge at 150 metres—and planted in 1997 by Tom’s parents, Kevin McCarthy and Kathleen Quealy—it’s a cool, low-yielding, late-ripening site rich in the region’s signature red soils. The fruit was picked by hand at the end of March and pressed as bunches to barrel (30% new) with full solids for fermentation. Tom moved the wine as little as possible to coax the mineral character from the fruit and stirred the lees sparingly throughout. “The fruit came in small bunches with small berries, so there’s plenty of fleshiness already,” he told us. The wine matured in puncheons for 10 months. It’s a very tasty addition to Quealy’s already stellar portfolio.

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