Michael Hall 'Sang de Pigeon' Chardonay 2024

Sang de Pigeon (pigeon’s blood) is a nod to my former life as a jewellery valuer. It’s the trade term for the colour of the finest rubies, invariably from the Mogok Stone Tract in Myanmar. The fruit for this pale-coloured Chardonnay was grown far to the south-east, in South Australia’s Adelaide Hills.

For wine nerds like me: Grown at the Garden Block in Piccadilly. Low winter rains were followed by a warm and dry growing season, echoing the 2019 vintage and prompting an early harvest. Hand-picked on the 5th and 6th of March, pressed to French oak puncheons (24% new), cold fermentation, 25% malolactic, 11 months on yeast lees, filtered and bottled.