Cavalli Chardonnay Reserve 2022

In the vineyard

Grapes were hand-picked in the early morning at Cavalli in three separate pickings. Grapes were wholebunch pressed and settled overnight to achieve good clarity of juice. Winter 2021 brought sufficient cold and rainfall to ensure even, healthy budbreak in spring, just slightly later than usual. The good health and reserve status of the vines lead to vigorous growth and much effort was made by the vineyard team to maintain balanced canopies with sufficient light penetration and air movement. January saw four very hot weekends in succession that sped up veraison, but the remainder of the ripening season was relatively slow and cool, leading to good colour and flavour development but low acids and high pHs. This cool weather and sporadic rainfall heightened the risk of fungal diseases so the labour was kept exceptionally busy maintaining our spray program, opening up bunch zones for air flow and removing any diseased bunches by hand. The red cultivars were allowed extra hang time though March, giving them fantastic colour and phenolic development, despite weathering a 17mm downpour in early March.Yields were 20% up on 2021, but 16% down on the blockbuster 2020 crop. All in all, the 2022 vintage shows excellent flavours and structure, but the biggest challenges were certainly disease and pH management. The vineyard and cellar teams navigated these obstacles well and I expect that they will be very proud of the products of their fantastic work this vintage.