Pale gold in colour, effusively aromatic with floral, honeysuckle notes, anise, honey and talcum, on the palate ripe pear, grapefruit, anise, a touch of flint, hints of salinity and wet stone and a kiss of vanilla, finely wrought, filigree acidity, all combining with slightly luxuriant richness, fine elegance, and a very long finish.

This is Bilancia’s flagship Chardonnay, so named after the spent rifle cartridges that were found to pepper the vineyard when it was planted, suggesting its erstwhile use a shooting range. It is from la collina vineyard with vines originally planted in 2001 on its lower slopes, terraces and flat, old riverbed. The site is planted with a number of different clones of Chardonnay, predominantly B95 and UCD15 with a smaller contribution from 548, 809 and Mendoza. These clones and the rows are represented by the stylised artwork of the label. 100% hand-picked, whole bunch pressed to French oak puncheons and barriques for fermentation. Indigenous yeast carried the ferment to dryness. The wine spent eleven months in oak prior to bottling; there was no fining or cold stabilisation and no additives other than sulphur. Intended to reflected the variety and the vineyard site rather than the winemaking.