Cool and wet springs tend to encourage ‘hen and chicken’, or ‘millerandage’. This erratic development of chardonnay bunches is caused by uneven fertilisation. According to winemaker Tim Lovett, the ‘chickens’ offer more intense and powerful flavours while the larger berries, the ‘hens’, carry much higher acidities. This is counterintuitive to previous thinking, but research has proven that the once-perceived shot berries are perfectly formed and sugar ripe. Combined, the chardonnay fruit brings exceptional concentration and flavour with naturally high acids. The quality of the vineyards is well recognised. Many cuttings have been taken from the 197 6 -planted Block 20 and 197 8 -planted Block 22 to establish new vineyards within Leeuwin Estate and by other Margaret River wineries. These blocks continue to represent the backbone of the highly regarded Art Series Chardonnay. The unirrigated vineyard gently slopes on gravelly and well-drained soils towards Stevens Road on the western boundary. Gingin Clone The Gingin clone has a very interesting history and exemplifies the connection between 19 th century aspirations and modern ambitions. Plant breeding and economic botany are the foundations of modern viticulture. Vine selection to improve performance and resistance against virus and disease is a foundation principle of modern winemaking. Chardonnay was brought into Australia as early as the 1830s as either pineau blanc (James Busby importation catalogue 49) or morrillon. Although there are claims and counter claims about who produced Australia’s first chardonnay, there is evidence that Leo Buring showed an example of Australian chardonnay in London in 1893. In Western Australia, there was a growing interest by the Department of Agriculture in further developing the wine industry. In 1956 it ordered cuttings of seven varieties from the University of California. Among this consignment were 24 cuttings of chardonnay. According to vigneron Brian Croser, ‘The clone FPS 1 was in the Armstrong Vineyard in 1930 towards the end of Prohibition. It is likely given the circumstances that not much was planted or selected during Prohibition from 1920 to 1933, so FPS 1 is likely to be a pre-Prohibition clone.’ The
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Volume 1 – Leeuwin Estate
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