Chardonnay is hand picked and sorted throughout the cool of early morning before being sent to the wineworks in chilled bins. Whole bunches are pressed, retaining only the finest free runs, minimal phenolic pickup and maximum flavour extraction being essential. After a cold settling, juices are transferred to French barrels for inoculation and seventeen days of ferment at moderate temperature. Upon completion, batches are treated to an extended course of two months lees stirring, followed by several months maturation in a selection of seasoned and new French oak barriques and hogsheads. Components are assembled, lightly fined and filtered before bottling in January.