Certified organic. After years of working in the region, Jeff Byrne’s little black book of quality fruit contacts in Orange is packed, but he does have his favourites. This is the fifth release of Byrne Farm Chardonnay, and the fruit source has remained the same since year one. For this wine, Jeff works with three plots of almost 30-year-old vines (some of the oldest in the region) within the Balmoral block at Nashdale. Perched on the northeast-facing slope of Mount Canobolas at a lofty 880 metres, these old vines are rooted in volcanic chocolate ferrosol soils.
The 2024 season saw a break in the cool trend of the preceding three years in Orange. A warm spring with some well-timed showers meant canopies were full and healthy going into summer. The mercury tipped above 30 degrees a dozen or so times, so picking came earlier with full phenological ripeness – no easy feat in this proper cool climate! The fruit was picked by hand in late February and was gently pressed as bunches to 500-litre puncheons for fermentation. The wine matured for nine months with monthly stirring to build texture and breadth. Malolactic conversion was avoided to preserve the alluring white stone fruit purity in this warmer year. Jeff is delighted with the results. “There’s heaps of flavour, with the hallmark mineral acidity of Orange,” he told us. As is always the case with this talented maker’s wines, there’s serious bang for your buck here.