Lake Chalice’s Plume wines constitute the crown of a multi-tiered portfolio that marries consistent quality to supreme value – always a winning combination, we’ve found. The Plume range looks to bring its own perspective to fine wines, focusing on an attention to detail where an artful blend of simplicity and complexity is wreathed with beauty. Chloe Gabrielsen is the winemaker at the Plume helm:

“2017 was our first interaction with Plume by Lake Chalice, and it was about getting to know the fruit. We are looking to always be expressive, and every year the expression has shown itself in a different way, based on how we feel about the fruit potential. When you have the best fruit, you can almost do anything and nothing at the same time. We really took a step back from interference or molding and just gave Plume the time and space to show us what it was made of.”

Everything is done with a light touch and minimal intervention, using the very best barrels and allowing the processes to evolve naturally.

A new addition has been added to the range, the stunning Plume Méthode Traditionnelle, a non-vintage tour de force. Sourced primarily from the stone and sand alluvium of the Rapaura Road Vineyard, the Plume is a blend of 68% Chardonnay and 32% Pinot Noir sourced from 20-year-old vines.

Hand harvested and whole bunch pressed, the free run Chardonnay juice was steel tank fermented followed by a steady malolactic fermentation, stirred on lees throughout. The Pinot Noir was lightly pressed and fermented cool in seasoned French barriques, allowed to mature on light lees until blending with Lake Chalice’s non-vintage base wine, to prepare for tirage, the process where blended wines are drawn off into bottles for a second fermentation.

The bottle fermentation took place over three months with bottles resting for a minimum of thirty months, until being disgorged and liqueur de dosage added. Elegant and alluring aromas of biscuit, baked pastry, meringue, wafer and lemon zest draw you in to a palate of citrus and pastry characters augmented with notes of biscuit and dried fruits.