An understated and elegant Gisborne Chardonnay this wine has delicate creamy notes complementing fleshy ripe peaches and hints of pears. The palate is medium-bodied and richly textured with stonefruit and a touch of citrus balanced by lightly toasted vanilla and spicy oak. Well rounded this wine finishes with a long mineral aftertaste.
To maximise quality and protect our valuable fruit the grapes for this wine were gently pressed and the juice settled overnight in Gisborne before being transported to Marlborough for vinification. Careful fermentation at low temperatures with selected high quality yeast strains ensured the tank fermented portion of this wine retained its full array of ripe fruit flavours. A portion of the juice was also fermented in aged French and American oak barriques to add complexity and texture to the final blend. Careful selection of the barrels and blending with the tank portion has created a full bodied wine rich in texture but retaining the fruit flavours Gisborne is renowned for.
The Chardonnay grapes for this wine were grown on two sites in the Patutahi area of Gisborne. A mixture of Chardonnay clones (6 and 15) were grown on two canes on a vertical shoot postioned trellis. Shoot thinning, leaf plucking and careful canopy management were all employed to ensure the grapes were harvested in optimum condition.
This wine goes well with light summer dishes and particularly with poultry and pastas.
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