Our new Hunter Valley whites

With many of the 2017 vintage white varieties now safely in the winery, Hunter Valley’s Gartelmann Wines has released two wines from their family inspired range of wines; the 2015 Gartelmann ‘Sarah Elizabeth’ Chardonnay (92/100 Halliday) and 2016 Gartelmann ‘Jessica’ Verdelho.

The new wines, made by Hunter Valley winemaker Liz Jackson, are named in honour of owner Jan Gartelmann’s mother Jessica and daughter Sarah.

As a family owned and operated business we take great pride in having our family front and centre on our wines.

These two wines are quintessential Hunter Valley varieties. 

The two new vintages are from very different vintages. 2015 was almost perfect, with good rain at the right time. 2016 on the other hand was undoubtedly very difficult. The forecast was good, but 90 mm of rain prior to Christmas was only the prequel to the down pouring of 220 mm in early January.

Surprisingly, with the clay soils and slopes of the Verdelho vineyard, the water simply ran off and our 2016 Verdelho is better than the previous year.

The 2015 Gartelmann ‘Sarah Elizabeth’ Chardonnay was made from 18 year-old vines located in the Upper Hunter Valley region. 

We are aiming for a richer style with attractive oak balance,” explained Jorg. “We matured 60 per cent of the wine for nine months in a combination of new and one-year-old French oak puncheons and hogsheads. The remaining component was matured in older oak to ensure that oak to fruit balance.

Monthly lees stirring and inhibiting malolactic fermentation preserved the fruit freshness whilst building palate texture and structure.