Bright green with a touch of pale yellow our Unoaked Chardonnay is all about fresh fruit. Aromas of bright tropical pineapples and melons are combined with a touch of creaminess from the malolactic fermentation. Apples, citrus and peaches are found on a full bodied and textured palate with some complex and mealy elements. Intensely flavoured the wine finishes with length and dryness.
Carefully machine harvested in the cool of the morning the grapes are transported 5 minutes by road to the winery where the grapes are immediately pressed with destemming only (no crushing) in order to minimise phenolic pick-up. Gently pressed to stainless steel the juice is settled overnight to maintain a high level of solids for added complexity. Racked then inoculated with a traditional yeast from Chablis the ferment is carefully temperature controlled to ensure a consistent and even fermentation. Following a 21 day ferment the wine is inoculated for malolactic fermentation and lees stirred twice weekly until the secondary malo ferment is complete. Racked and sulphured following this the wine spends some weeks on its ferment lees until it is settled, stabilised and filtered just prior to bottling.
Grown in the Rapaura area of Marlborough's Wairau Valley the fruit for this wine comes off two different vineyards. Both cropped at under ten tonnes per hectare the fruit is carefully grown with extensive work in the vineyard to manage shoot thinning, leaf plucking and botrytis pressure from a damp early Autumn. A mix of clones in the vineyards provide complexity and a range of flavours. The grapes were all harvested on the 12th April between 22 and 23 Brix.
Our chardonnay is a great partner for pasta and pizza dishes, tapas and poultry dishes
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