Orange’s historic Mayfield Vineyard has released three new wines within their flagship ‘Premier Selection’. These wines comprise two Chardonnays and a Pinot Noir.
“These new wines represent the best parcels of fruit from the vineyard,” says Mayfield viniculturist and General Manager Charles Simons. “These are wines that are made in the vineyard, and express both Orange as a region, and our vineyard which sits at an elevation of 780 to 900 metres.”
The 2022 Mayfield ‘Thomas’ Chardonnay is a wine made from vines grown in Mayfield’s 460 million-year-old soils. Containing sandstone, siltstone breccia and conglomerate, the soils are derived from volcanic basalt and andesite, and have a higher water content than the neighbouring vineyard block. After harvest, the grapes were fermented (75 per cent malolactic) in new and seasoned French oak (a combination of hogsheads and puncheons). The lees were stirred regularly for build texture and complexity.
The Premier Chardonnay from Block 14 is from a small block that sits on quartz filled soil. With considerably less moisture than other blocks, the grape’s roots weave deep within the stone cracks to access water and unique minerals to thrive. The parcel of fruit was fermented with 100% grape solids (50 per cent malolactic), and matured in new and older French puncheons and hogsheads, with judicious lees stirring to complement the distinctive fruit purity.
The new Mayfield ‘William’ Pinot Noir was hand harvested, with a component gently de-stemmed and fermented in two tonne open fermenters. Another parcel was fermented carbonically. Whole bunches were kept separate, covered and left for ten days. This component was blended back into the finished wine and matured in 25 per cent new French puncheons for 11 months.
“This is an exciting time for Mayfield,” continues Charles. “We have experienced another great vintage, with 2023 looking as good as 2022. While there have been some challenges, we have worked hard to ensure that we have been able to harvest good quality, clean fruit with excellent ripeness and regional acidity.”
Pricing & distribution: The Mayfield wines are distributed by Mayfield and are also available direct from the winery via www.mayfieldvineyard.com.au
- 2022 Mayfield ‘Thomas’ Chardonnay (Orange region) $65.00
- 2022 Mayfield ‘Block 14’ Chardonnay (Orange region) $65.00
- 2022 Mayfield ‘William’ Pinot Noir (Orange region) $65.00
For further information, samples or images please contact:
David Cumming at Define Wine Marketing & Communications: 0414 736 342 or david@definewine.com.au
Charles Simons at Mayfield Vineyard: 0473 862 248 or charles@mayfieldvineyard.com
The history of Mayfield dates to 1813 when William Charles Wentworth become one of the first Europeans to cross the Blue Mountains. He was granted the ‘Mayfield’ property as thanks from the Governor of NSW. The property grew and prospered under various custodians before the Thomas family purchased the property in 1998 and planted its first vineyard. In 2021 Mayfield was acquired by the Eastham family who later acquired the adjoining vineyard, reuniting the original Mayfield property.
