Ghost Rock Catherine Cuvee Exceptionnelle 2022

Ghost Rock is a cornerstone of Tasmania’s Cradle Coast, founded by the Arnold family and instrumental in shaping the region’s reputation over the past two decades. Today, the estate is led by second-generation winemaker Justin Arnold alongside his wife, Alicia Peardon.

The vineyards sit on varied expressions of volcanic clay, from loam to sand, carefully farmed to manage vigour and preserve balance. The result is a quietly confident range of wines that reflect both site and season: precise, cool-climate expressions shaped by experience rather than ego.

Grape Varietals & Region: A blend of Chardonnay & Pinot Noir from Cradle Coast, Tasmania.

Charonnay was sourced from some their best blocks for the variety, Bonadale and La Filles. Picked weeks before their estate Chardonnay, these two vineyards provide the perfect ying-yang fruit profile for their Catherine. One fruit and mouthfeel driven, the other mineral driven with tight precision. The Pinot Noir component was source from their tried and true sparkling block in Bonadale vineyard, the closest block to the press, picked and pressed within minutes.

Taste Profile: Warm gold in color. It has a generous and alluring bouquet of fresh and zesty notes like meyer lemon peel, delicate notes of minerality, and rich undertones of honey, vanilla, and cream.

The palate is complex and layered, yet focused. The mousse is superfine, the dose restrained, and the mouthfeel is equally creamy and voluptuous as it is fresh and citrus driven. Serious and food friendly. One to wow.

Winemaking Process: The Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are picked seperately, with careful vineyard selections. We always harvest and press our sparkling first thing in the morning, to minimize skin contact and to obtain the most delicate and pristine juice. We separate into 3 press fractions, and the most gentile and highest quality fraction is designated for Catherine. Once tank fermented, it is joined with its Pinot Noir component, and undergoes malolactic fermentaion. It then ages on lees in tank for 10 months, before a secondary fermenation and tirage bottling in Feburary, just before we pick the next vintage of sparkling. It ages again on lees, this time in bottle, for at least 30 months before its disgored, rested, and finally released. A true labour of love.