Reflections on Vintage 2023

Our Karridale vineyard site continues to produce Chardonnay of finesse and seamless acidity with each vintage. Overall smooth and ideal, 2023 was a truly excellent year for sparkling Chardonnay fruit in southern Margaret River. The vine and fruit development stages were slightly later than average and coupled with a mild but very dry summer this delivered clean fruit, healthy yields and strong acid profiles.

Harvest is the cumulation of the hard work done win the vineyard over the last 12 months with each vintage offering opportunity for the continuous exploration of Blanc de Blancs winemaking. Delve deeper into the intricacies of vintage with insights from General Manager and Winemaker, Mick Langridge; Vineyard Manager, Tristan Moore; Production Winemaker, Casey Economides and Operations Manager, Brendan Carr.

Read on to learn more about vintage 2023 from our makers.

MICK LANGRIDGE – IDÉE FIXE GENERAL MANAGER AND WINEMAKER

With several vintages under his belt as General Manager and Winemaker at Idée Fixe and 27 vintages worked in the Margaret River region, Mick is well seasoned in the intricacies of harvest. A typical day for Mick starts in Karridale, checking in on the day’s hand pick and importantly, assessing fruit in the ripest blocks with Vineyard Manager, Tristan Moore, to monitor ideal harvest timing. From here, Mick heads back to the winery to see how the morning’s press is evolving and tastes the ferment round with Casey and Brendan. Afternoons typically involve coordinating and planning for the coming days.

You would think disease pressure but with our sparkling fruit this hasn’t proven to be the case over many years. The trickiest thing is having so much perfectly ripened Chardonnay needing to be hand picked over such a short harvest window.

Can you explain why THE TIMING OF pick calls is so important, what would happen if you picked too early or too late?

Blanc de Blancs wine at an ideal balance requires fruit at a natural balance of sugar, acid, and phenolic ripeness. The alternative is picking with less precision and relying on tricks and additives in the winery to try and craft a sense of balance, an approach that almost always drifts off course at some point in the wine’s life revealing undesirable ‘artefacts’. During cooler, cloudier spells the pace of ripening slows a little and harvest timing can be spaced out with a few days leeway either side of a preferred date. But if the sun is shining and the days are warm the perfect balance of fruit parameters may pass in a single day. Fruit that is underdone will make Blanc de Blancs that is grippy, vinous and potentially sour to finish, while over-ripe fruit will make for clumsy, slow-moving wines that lack the freshness and vivacity we seek in the style.

IS THERE A SPECIFIC PLOT OF FRUIT THAT YOU LIKE WORKING WITH THE MOST, IF SO, WHY?

There will always be a soft spot for our key founding sparkling block in Karridale, “D-Block” which produces fruit with a distinctive expression of salinity both on the nose and palate.

With several vintages under your belt as General Manager and Winemaker at Idée Fixe, what is one of the biggest lessons you have learnt from making Blanc de Blancs?

Less is more. If fruit is declaring it’s personality too loudly at vintage the Blanc de Blancs you make from it will be screaming…and nobody likes a shouty bubbles.

NAME THREE WORDS THAT SUM UP THE 2023 VINTAGE FOR YOU?

Smooth. Ideal. Quartz.

⁠TRISTAN MOORE – IDÉE FIXE VINEYARD MANAGER

It is the year-round efforts of the Viticulture team that enable rewards to be reaped come vintage time. His third vintage in the Karridale vineyard, 2023 was a particularly memorable one for Idée Fixe Vineyard Manager Tristan Moore, with the welcome of daughter Alba Rose in the heat of harvest!

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE QUALITY OF FRUIT THIS YEAR? WAS THERE ANYTHING YOU DID DIFFERENTLY IN THE VINEYARD THIS YEAR THAT CONTRIBUTED TO THE RESULTS SEEN IN THIS YEARS VINTAGE?

Excellent. Pristine. Clean of disease, with well-balanced sugars and acids from a sparkling perspective. Which were a result of favourable growing conditions after an inclement Spring. January through March saw good ripening conditions in Karridale and there was thankfully not too much extreme weather to mitigate. This year we tried some different pruning techniques which helped us achieve healthy yields across the vineyard.  We improved our use of inputs, specifically targeting soil and vine deficiencies. It was a dry season in terms of rainfall, but Karridale is blessed with a large water source close by.

WHAT IS THE MOST CHALLENGING PART OF HARVEST IN KARRIDALE?

All of our fruit is hand harvested in Karridale, which represents a huge logistical and administrative challenge to coordinate a large number of pickers – this year, over 70 people were working with us throughout vintage.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT IN THE VINEYARD NOW THAT HARVEST IS OVER?

The post-harvest period is important. Our work continues as we encourage the canopies to function as long as possible. Photosynthesis that was supplying sugars to our Chardonnay fruit is now converted into carbohydrates and stored over winter. Budburst and early shoot growth relies on these stored reserves. During this period, we work to minimise disease pressure and maintaining vine function. We also turn our attention to soil health and our cover crop seeding program.

WHAT WAS YOUR MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT FROM VINTAGE 2023?

The arrival of my daughter Alba Rose wins here! Alba arrived on International Women’s Day and a full moon!

NAME THREE WORDS THAT SUM UP THE 2023 VINTAGE FOR YOU?

Nappies, coffee, nappies

CASEY ECONOMIDES – IDÉE FIXE PRODUCTION WINEMAKER

Each vintage brings with it an opportunity for continuous exploration in Blanc de Blancs winemaking. Production Winemaker, Casey Economides, celebrates her third vintage with Idée Fixe in 2023, describing this year as an exemplary, vibrant, and flawless vintage.

WHAT DOES A TYPICAL DAY A THE IDÉE FIXE WINERY LOOK LIKE DURING VINTAGE?

During vintage our team starts work in the wee hours of the morning. The day begins with processing our chilled, hand-picked fruit, often, we process three press loads each day – which is a full 24 hour cycle.  While fruit is being processed, our cellar team works around the clock racking chilled juice off lees, barrelling down, warming, conducting laboratory analysis and starting inoculations.

HOW DO YOU KEEP YOUR TEAM ENERGISED AND FOCUSED DURING THIS BUSY TIME?

Music – good tunes bring good vibes – also trying to have a laugh whenever possible, having a sense of humour is important in building team rapport. We take opportunities, whenever possible, for educational tastings which reminds our team of the high level of expectation in what we produce here at Idée Fixe.

IS THERE ANYTHING YOU ARE DOING DIFFERENTLY THIS YEAR IN THE WINERY?

We conducted specialised yeast trials in previous years and honed selections for 2023, narrowing down our yeast selection to just two this year: Quartz & SOEC 1971, both are specialised selections commonly used in Champagne. ⁠

ONCE THE FRUIT HAS BEEN HARVESTED AND WHOLE BUNCH PRESSED, WHAT HAPPENS NEXT IN THE TRADITIONAL METHOD PROCESS AT THE IDÉE FIXE WINERY?

After pressing and primary fermentation, we begin allocation tastings in May with blending of wines beginning shortly after in June/July. Once the wines have been blended, we stabilise them and prepare for filtering before tirage in September/October. Tirage is arguably one of the most important stages in the traditional method process as the wine goes through secondary fermentation in bottle, creating the bubbles that we all enjoy inside! In between, we are disgorging and packaging.

With several vintages under your belt as Production Winemaker at Idée Fixe, what is one of the biggest lessons you have learned from making Blanc de Blancs?

One of the biggest lessons I have learned about making Bland de Blancs is that you’re in it for the long game… all of these little tweaks here and adjustments there – you won’t possibly see the results of that for at least 4 years.  Making Blanc de Blancs is an art of patience, which is something really good for me to learn – finally as my parents would say!

NAME THREE WORDS THAT SUM UP THE 2023 VINTAGE FOR YOU?

Exemplary. Vibrant. Flawless.

BRENDAN CARR – IDÉE FIXE OPERATIONS MANAGER

Seamlessly joining the fold, 2023 saw Idée Fixe Operations Manager, Brendan Carr delve into the kaleidoscope of Chardonnay clones during his first vintage with Idée Fixe!

Brendan, you’ve worked 17 vintages in Margaret River and 23 overall. After completing your first vintage with Idée Fixe, what are your initial impressions?

2023 was a great vintage to start off my time at Idée Fixe. It’s clear the fruit resources are exceptional, and as more clones and sites are planted and become established, it is also clear that this is just the beginning of a very exciting Blanc de Blancs journey ahead. Also, having a front row seat to the Idée Fixe cellar door redevelopment and tasting some exceptional wines still awaiting disgorgement in the cellar, shows me that the future at Idée Fixe is bright!

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE QUALITY OF FRUIT FROM THIS YEAR’S INTAKE?

Fantastic quality fruit. All the hard work was done early in the vineyard to mitigate a challenging spring which meant for a slightly later start to harvest across the region. Then warm and very dry conditions (without the heat spikes we experienced in 2022) meant for very little disease and real picking pressure over vintage. Despite the warmth, the acid profile of our Chardonnay blocks was exceptional with subtle and elegant flavours the hallmark. Karridale D-Block has again stood tall, but even the first crop off some young blocks have been of remarkable quality considering.

Have you noted anything markedly different FOR A Blanc de Blancs vintage vs. still wine vintagE?

The biggest change for me has been the exposure to a new kaleidoscope of different Chardonnay clones. Coming from a table wine background, where the heritage Gingin clone reigns supreme and its intense fruit power knows no bounds, it is great to see the elegance of the different clones at Idée Fixe. Having some restraint in fruit character allows the true beauty of traditional method Blanc to Blancs to shine through during its time in bottle on lees. A key takeaway after completing my first vintage with Idée Fixe is that the specialty sparkling press cycle is a slow and delicate affair…and like all good things, mustn’t be rushed!

WHAT IS THE MOST SATISFYING PART OF VINTAGE FOR YOU?

Definitely the teamwork and comradery that vintage fosters. Good wine is really a team sport. Harvest is ultimately the culmination of all the hard work done in the vineyard over the last 12 months. . . then vintage is akin to the baton change in the relay, and then its the wineries job not to drop the baton until the wine is in bottle! 

WHAT KEPT YOU GOING THROUGH VINTAGE 2023?

A toastie around the press at 4am is very hard to beat, unless Mick’s wife Kath is whipping up some fresh scones! I also enjoyed getting schooled in the ways of classical music by our hardworking (and very musically talented) vintage cellar hand, Rhys. It all felt very sophisticated.