Bonkers Chardonnay MV - Bonkers Zombie Robot Alien Monsters from the Future Ate My Brain (Sur Lie) 2.0 Magnum 1500ml

Bonkers began as a happy accident during England's exceptional 2022 vintage, when the warm summer created ideal conditions for the South Downs Chardonnay. After experimenting with American oak for a separate project, the team half-filled a barrel with the Chardonnay, sealed it, and forgot about it. Six months later, the wine had transformed through controlled oxidation into a complex, wild yet pristine white. This was used to top up several other barrels that had stalled in fermentation.

Bonkers is a multi-dimensional, solera-aged Chardonnay: rich, creamy, and savoury with a nutty, honeyed complexity from its elevage in large and small barrels, French and American, old and new. A touch of carefully controlled oxidation is balanced by a freshness and fine structure. V2 is a purer and more elegant, but no less delicious, no less
moreish expression of Bonkers and one that we have crafted with greater longevity in
mind. While delicious now, it will gain further complexity over the next decade or more. Whole-bunch pressed. Elevage in equal parts French and American oak of various
cooperage and size. A small proportion of barrels were allowed to develop flor.

Just 400 magnums were filled, which have had an extra 12 months on cork in the cellar. V2 was always going to take a while to come around, but time has fattened this up rather nicely. Drinks like a Muscadet/Chablis, and screams out for oysters, crab, and pretty much anything salty. 

"A new chapter in English winemaking? Hugely distinctive!" Jancis Robinson MW
Gold medal, WineGB Awards 2025