Berton Foundstone Chardonnay

Berton Foundstone Chardonnay is an appealing fruit driven unoaked wine that has aromas of candied lemon, lime and honeydew melon. The palate is a fusion of sweet citrus, peardrop and ripe melon flavours that continue to a long and zesty finish. The wine is best enjoyed with lightly fried fish or just as an aperitif.

Berton Vineyards was established in 1996 by Bob and Cherie Berton when they purchased a block of land in High Eden, a subregion of the Barossa Valley, South Australia. This idyllic property sits 450m above sea level on gently rolling hills – except for the Chardonnay block which is anything but gentle!

Bob and Cherie set about planting the first Berton Vineyard cuttings that spring – ten acres of Shiraz and seven acres of Chardonnay – without any permanent water – it wasn’t until the following year, in 1998 when the dam filled that the vines got a decent drink!! It was due to these conditions and the seemingly hydrophobic podsolic soils that the vines struggled to become established. After a few years where the vines still looked like rootlings, a Swedish friend jokingly called it the bonsai vineyard, but the High Eden has a high annual rainfall so the vines are looking good these days.

In 2005 the decision was made to purchase a winery to process the 1000 odd tonnes that was produced at the High Eden Vineyard. In 2005 when the former Southcorp winery in Yenda became available, Bob and Cherie joined with Jamie Bennett, Paul Bartholomaeus and James Ceccato to form Berton Vineyards the company. The winery was purchased and the guys moved to their new home in November 2005. For the next few months they were kept busy buying up fruit and arranging contact crushing for the 2006 vintage.

Berton Foundstone Chardonnay is an appealing fruit driven wine that has aromas of candied lemon, lime and honeydew melon. The palate is a fusion of sweet citrus, peardrop and ripe melon flavours that continue to a long and zesty finish. The wine is best enjoyed with lightly fried fish or just as an aperitif.

Berton Foundstone Chardonnay - Hay Wines