GIACONDA Nantua Les Deux Chardonnay, Beechworth

Giaconda wines are hand-crafted according to what is basically a natural winemaking process. This means indigenous yeasts are employed for fermentation, natural bacteria for malolactic fermentation, French oak barrel ageing, minimal sulphur additions, and no filtration before bottling.

The Giaconda winery, barrel maturation cave and bottling facility are all set up for gravity flow. This means the wines are very rarely pumped or manipulated mechanically – rather they are gently moved by gravity or gas pressure.

‘Winemaking should be subtle and always seek balance – it should never seek to dominate the terroir or characteristics of any given vintage’.
- Rick Kinzbrunner

In the case of Chardonnay, our fruit is hand-picked, lightly crushed and then basket pressed before being transferred to French oak barrels (approximately 30% new) for fermentation and ageing.

Our wines are aged in French oak for almost two years – deep underground in the granite maturation cave. This cave offers optimal conditions for fermentation and ageing with a stable temperature of 16 degrees centigrade and naturally high humidity all year round.