Product information

Bindi Quartz Chardonnay 2019

Chardonnay from Macedon, Victoria, Australia

$105

$100ea in any 3+
$95ea in any 6+
Closure: Screw Cap

Description

This Quartz 2019, from our 1988 planting, is bright and fresh with blossom, lemon and wet stone/chalky aromas. There are delicate savoury, mealy lees elements. The palate is vigorous and lively, harmonious with a long, elegant, textured finish. It really is very finely poised and flowing. As has proven to be the way, another five years will see it enter it’s prime and it will improve well and drink deliciously for over ten years.

Michael D

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Check out all of the wines by Bindi

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

The juice goes to barrel straight from the press tray, with no additions of yeast, nutrients or enzymes. Once the juice is in barrel a small amount of sulphur is added and then we wait, usually about five days, for the fermentation to begin. The wine spent 11 months on yeast lees in French barrels, of which 30% are new, and was bottled in early March.

About Bindi

A Bit of Bindi on the Side – An interview with Michael Dhillon of Bindi Wines

It’s great to have someone with as much experience as Michael so clearly articulate what has been a massive period of evolution the Australian wine industry. Particularly on the Pinot front. This is a must watch for any Pinot fanatic!

Michael Dhillon’s been around the block. Mostly Block 5 & a few others that Bindi planted moons ago. After over a generation of growing grapes and making wines, Bindi, has the reputation of one of Australia’s great Pinot and Chardonnay producers. They aren’t resting on their laurels!

New high density planting are in the ground and will soon bare fruit. The ever present desire to achieve the most delicious wine possible still beats stong in his heart.

From Bindi

‘Bindi’, 50 kilometres north-west of Melbourne in the Macedon Ranges, is the family property of the Dhillon family. Originally purchased in the 1950s as part of the larger grazing farm ‘Bundaleer’, ‘Bindi’ is a 170 hectare farm of which 7 hectares are planted to Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Fifteen hectares are dedicated to managed plantation eucalypts for high grade furniture timber whilst the remainder of the land is maintained as remnant bush land and important indigenous grasslands.

The Bindi vineyard is the fundamental focus of our endeavors. Our vineyard and winemaking philosophy is to seek balance and purity in the expression of our various individual vineyard sites and this philosophy is applied to farming and conservation at ‘Bindi’; the preservation of the natural harmony.

The Bindi labels featured under the link ‘wine styles’ provide some of the stories of people and place that define our endeavour.

In the Vineyard

Vineyard elevation 500 meters above sea level. Soils predominantly shattered quartz over siltstone, sandstone and clay (Ordovician period sub soils-480 million years old) with some eroded volcanic top soil over clay (Approximately four millions years old). Generally infertile.

Production ranges from 1,800-3,000 dozen bottles per vintage

Yields typically 1.5 to 2 tonnes per acre (3.5 to 5.0 tonnes per hectare)

Typical hand management regimes of fastidious small vineyard philosophies are maintained encompassing hand pruning, frequent passes (at least ten passes each vine) though the growing season managing the vertical shoot positioned canopy and hand harvesting

Since 2005 we have been implementing organic procedures and inputs where the focus is on promoting soil life and balance leading to excellent vine health. This involves compost, undervine cultivation and aerating the soil (opening up the soil for air, moisture and soil applications).

Chardonnay plantings – 2 hectares
Kostas Rind Chardonnay in 1988
Quartz Chardonnay in 1988

Pinot Noir plantings – 5 hectares
Original Vineyard Pinot Noir in 1988
Block Five Pinot Noir in 1992
Block K Pinot Noir in 2001
Darshan in 2014 (high density Pinot Noir (11,300 vines per hectare in a 1.1m x 0.8m))
Block 8 in 2016 (high density Pinot Noir (11,300 vines per hectare in a 1.1m x 0.8m))

In the Winery

Our fermentations occur without addition of yeast, yeast nutrient or enzyme.  Unsettled Chardonnay juice goes straight to barrel, reds are gently worked, delicate pressing, long lees ageing in French barrels and minimal racking. No fining and restricted filtration regimes are followed.

Vigneron: Michael Dhillon

Michael was born in the town of Gisborne (where his family on his mother Kaye’s side have been since 1853) , 55kms north west of Melbourne, and grew up at Bindi, a 170 hectare farm just outside the township. Today he and his family produce chardonnay and pinot from their vineyard at Bindi which Bill and Michael Dhillon established in 1988.

Michael served as assistant winemaker to Stuart Anderson from 1991 until 1998 when he assumed full responsibility. Michael learned his craft working with Stuart as well as experiencing vintages in Europe, where he spent time with the Champagne house of Jean Vesselle in Bouzy, with Alain Graillot in Croze-Hermitage and four vintages in Tuscany at Tenuta di Valgiano. During the mid 1990s Michael also worked with John Wade over parts of three vintages when John was establishing Howard Park Winery. Michael’s passion for Burgundy has seen him visit over 100 different domaines over two decades.

The 2019 Vintage at Bindi

Notes on the just completed 2019 harvest. 10 April 2019

(Originally Posted on Bindi’s Blog by Wendy)

After fifty consecutive winery days it finally feels like the harvesting and fermenting are done! The resulting wines in barrel tell the story of a remarkable and exceptionally successful season. It is now we take our first steps off the roller coaster that began in September 2018 and concluded in these first April weeks of 2019. Whilst still slightly giddy, the mind, like the wines, is naturally clearing and brightening.

This growing season began with the driest September in 110 years after a winter disappointingly devoid of saturating rains. It was an eerie omen and had us on edge for what could unfold as the Spring progressed. October saw an unprecedented run of frosts and our nerves were further frayed. Then, thankfully, the season making rains came. November and December provided relieving rainfall and the vines flourished and the dams rose. It really was a dramatic turnaround and the scene and the fruit became set for a potentially great run to harvest. These rains came with a little cost as a tickle of downey mildew saw a few berries lost and an unfriendly thunderstorm delivered berry splitting hail to any exposed bunches on the eastern side of the canopy. But, in the scheme of the season, these maladies were of little consequence.

The dramatic and weathering ride continued into January as the heat reared and seared what had been splendid green grass over the new year. It proved to be the hottest January recorded. February saw cooler and calmer conditions and it felt like the season had shifted, however a late sting in the tail saw some late month heat which brought forward the harvest of the high density vineyards (including the first crop from Block 8) and some earlier ripening clones in the Kaye vineyard. Overall March was quite mild and saw the harvest run over a record number of days with a March 7th commencement and a conclusion on the 26th. This meant most blocks ripened quite slowly and benefited from a run of lovely autumnal weather where the cool nights preserved acidity and freshness and the sunny days built intensity and structure.

Comparing the sublime 2018 season and wines to the 2019s makes for an intriguing assessment. The 2018s give the impression of effortless beauty; they are fine and fragrant, harmonious and driven with fabulous ageing potential. The 2019s are more powerfully structured yet have quite beautiful fruit embedded inside the scale. Such early days but perhaps for the next five years the 2018s will charm while the 2019s brood?  The run of fine seasons, beginning with the marvellous 2015, has quite remarkably continued.

Where in the World is Bindi Wines?

Bindi is in Gisbourne within the Macedon Ranges, one of Victoria’s cool climate wine regions. Look to the north and a little west of Melbourne.

Click to enlarge 🔎

Where in the world does the magic happen?

Bindi Wines, Gisborne-Melton Rd, Gisborne VIC, Australia

Macedon
Victoria
Australia