‘meticulous attention to detail’

‘Wines are made in the vineyard.  The winemaker’s role is to preserve what the vigneron has achieved’.  We are fortunate at Chatsfield to have a certain level of control over our grape production. Therefore with the help of nature, we can harvest the fruit the optimum flavour ripeness and condition.  Both hand and machine harvesting is conducted at Chatsfield.  Generally the delicate varieties of Riesling, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc are hand harvested in the early hours of the morning.

Both hand and machine harvesting is conducted at Chatsfield.  Generally the delicate varieties of Riesling, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc are hand harvested in the early hours of the morning.  This preserves the condition of the fruit and minimises oxidation of the fruit flavours.  Red grape varieties are generally machine harvested in the cool of the night.  Cool temperate of the fruit and contact with grape skins assists in removing colour and tannins for these varieties. 

The winery is located within 20 minutes (by tractor) from the vineyard which allows immediate processing of the grapes. 

Both white and red grapes are crushed, destemmed and chilled immediately (with the exception of Chardonnay for sparkling wines) on receival at the winery.  Chilling assists to minimise oxidation of white varieties and allows a ‘cold maceration’ of the red varieties prior to fermentation. Both ‘modern’ and ‘old world’ techniques and equipment is utilised with the winery. 

The grape pressing is undertaken by 2 types of press.   A ‘traditional’ basket press and an ‘air bag’ press are both utilized.  The basket press is a very traditional way of pressing and allows a very gentle squeezing of the grapes with minimal maceration or movement of the skins.  The air bag press is a more modern piece of equipment which allows rapid, economic and gentle squeezing of grapes to remove all juice and wine. 

Generally the white and ‘rose’ grape juices are allowed to settle and clarify for 36hrs prior to ‘racking off’ the gross lees (a decanting process to remove the grape solids from the clear juice).   Fermentation of white and red grapes is the essential part of the process to turn grape juice into wine.  Selected wine yeasts are used and we use specific cultures for individual varieties.  White wines are fermented in both stainless steel tanks and French oak barrels.  Red wines are fermented on the grape skins in stainless steel fermenters and generally pressed just prior to dryness.  The resultant wine can then either be left to finish its ferment in a stainless steel tank or in French oak barrels to gain further complexity. 

Maturation of both white and red wines is dependant on the style and variety.  We use a range of premium quality oak from select French cooperages to allow our wines to soften and gain further complexity from barrel maturation.  Generally a component of the white wine styles of Sauvignon Blanc and Rose gain 4 – 6 months in oak with the chardonnay variety having an opportunity to ‘mature for at least 10months.  These wine styles receive the European technique of ‘batonage’ (stirring) and time on yeast lees to gain ‘richness’ and complexity. 

Red wines are generally matured for 18 months in a range of new and up to 4 year old barrels.  Some components of our wines are subjected to barrel fermentation where the last few grams of grape sugar are allowed to ferment in the oak barrels.  This imparts further complexity and structure to our wines. 

‘A great wine is like a piece of art’.

It has been crafted from quality raw materials (the grape) and subjected to a number of procedures and sculpturing over a length of time by the artist (winemaker).

‘Take the time to enjoy and appreciate its qualities!’