Tasting Notes for Kalleske Florentine Chenin Blanc from the Winery

This single vineyard Chenin Blanc, sourced from mature vines on our Kalleske farm, is a vibrant fruit-driven wine. These old vines are one of the few remaining Chenin blanc vineyards in the Barossa. Grapes were harvested in the cool night and gently pressed for fermentation to provide a naturally varietal yet complex wine.

It gains its name from Caroline ‘Florentine’ Kalleske, the first daughter of Johann Georg Kalleske who migrated to Australia from Prussia in 1838. Florentine is a genuine hand crafted wine that’s been grown, vintaged and matured on our Kalleske estate at Greenock in the North-Western Barossa.

Tasting Notes

Colour: 2024 Florentine is straw white in colour.

Aroma: The inviting aroma is classic Chenin with notes of green apple, thyme, lime cordial, jasmine flower and a touch of flint.

Palate: The palate is juicy amidst flavours of white stone fruits, citrus pith and a leafy edge.  Light-bodied with an elegant structure, a sorbet acid line runs throughout.  Bright and lively, a sliver of oiliness is countered with stoney minerality.  A long, clean, vivid fruit-driven finish completes a balanced, very drinkable wine.

Recommended Drinking: Florentine can be enjoyed now but will cellar gracefully for a decade or more.

Growing Season

Vintage 2024 was excellent.  Winter and Spring were drier and slightly warmer than average leading to earlier budburst, flowering and veraison.  Summer welcomed refreshing rainfall, average temperatures, with no extreme heat, ensuring the vines flourished with their very balanced crop load and apt canopy leading to steady ripening.  Autumn began warm and finished mild, continuing the consistent ripening of grapes until harvest was finished in mid-Autumn.  The yields are overall average, and the quality is superb.

Vineyard

Florentine is from a single vineyard of Chenin Blanc on the Kalleske property that was planted in 1988. The vines are low yielding and soil is shallow sand with clay subsoil.

Winemaking

The grapes were harvested in the cool of the night on March 4th.  They were then pressed, and the juice was briefly settled prior to racking where it was cooly fermented in tank for nine days.  The wine was bottled immediately after primary fermentation whilst young and fresh to retain utmost vibrancy.

(SKU: KA_CBl_CV)