Tasting Notes for Rosnay Preservative Free Chardonnay 2023 from the Winery

The Freedom Chardonnay is made from the first vines we planted at Rosnay: Chardonnay, planted in September 1997, and which have been grown organically and biodynamically since they were planted. Chardonnay is the most well known, “flagship” variety of the Cowra wine region, and since 2013 we have been making it without sulfites.

In 2023, the grapes were night harvested and gently pressed, cold settled, racked, and fermented cool (15-17degrees C) using wild yeast in clay amphoras.

The grapes are early harvested when still a bit green, and gently pressed to maximise their natural acidity and stonefruit flavours. They are then gently pressed in a small air-bag press, and traditionally cold settled, racked, and fermented slowly at low temperature (15-17degrees C) using commercial yeast guaranteed not to produce any sulfites.

We encourage the wine to go through natural malolactic fermentation, so the finished wine is stable with no sulfites added. The result is a more “old world” style with a creamy acidity and a slight butteriness, rather than a hard acid line of “new world” sulfited whites. The wine is bottled without fining, cold stabilisation or filtration to “polish it”.

This is natural wine. There is a chance that it will have sediment from lees, tartrates or proteins that settle to the bottom of the bottle. Treat it like a cloudy beer and roll the bottle before serving to best enjoy this authentic Chardonnay.

This is a wine that will develop and age faster than most white wines. Whilst this is not itself a bad thing, we suggest drinking this wine young and once opened, finish it or vacuum seal it for up to one day.

Winemaker Details

Vintage: 2023
Sulfites: Zero
Alcohol: 13.5%
Vintage: 2023
Bottled: June 2023
Blend: Chardonnay 100%
Sulfites: Zero
Yeast: sulfite-free commercial
Maturation: Amphora
Fining:No
Filtration: Coarse
Winemaker: Sam Statham

(SKU: RN_FCh_CV)