Adelaide Hills based Thistledown works with pristine fruit sourced from South Australian iconic vineyard sites. Peter Leske, Giles Cooke MW and Fergal Tynan MW hand-make small-batch wines that illustrate the benefits of great sites and intelligent winemaking. The unique blend of superb fruit sources and experience in both the New and the Old Worlds helps craft wine of subtlety, texture and detail – wines perfectly suited to complement rather than overwhelm fine food. Viticulture- The Great Escape is our benchmark, cool climate Chardonnay produced from fruit grown in elevated vineyard sites which allow for a long ripening period which helps to maintain the natural sugar and acid balance of the grape. With moderate alcohol, focussed, crisp citrus fruit and a mouthwatering finish, this is an accomplished, truly modern style of this noble variety. Winemaking- As with all of our wines, the winemaking process is a gentle one with the intention of preserving the natural flavours of the wine while at the same time building layers of texture. Fruit is picked in the cool of the early morning and goes directly to press where the free run juice is run off to tank to settle. We retain a relatively high level of solids in the ferment - half of which is done in tank with regular movement of lees and half is done in used French hogsheads with regular bâttonage of the lees to build flavour and texture. We do not encourage malolactic as we want to preserve the crisp, citrus profile. Oak Treatment- Time: 10 Months; Type: Tight grain French Oak 300l; % oaked: 50; % new oak: 10 Tasting note- Citrussy, subtle oak influence and a bright yet creamy palate.