Greywacke Chardonnay 2023 Marlborough New Zealand 750ml

A medley of lively citrus fragrances, layered with notes of crème anglaise and praline, infused with a flinty minerality. The palate is richly textured and thoughts of lemon
curd on hot buttered brioche are hard to ignore – there’s also a flourish of tarragon with stone fruit flavours, tempered by toasty oak and zesty acidity. A concentrated wine – charming in its youth with many savoury layers that will gradually unfold with cellaring.

The grapes for this wine are primarily the low-yielding Mendoza clone, known for its concentration of flavour and crisp acidity. Mendoza and clone 95 were sourced from the
central Wairau Plains near Renwick, grown in young alluvial soils containing high proportions ofgreywacke river stones. Two other source blocks were on gravelly, clay-loam soils in the Omaka Valley: clone 548 coming from a hillside vineyard and Mendoza from a valley floor site in the middle of the valley. The vineyards were mostly trained using a two- cane VSP (vertical shootpositioning) trellis, with the balance on the divided Scott Henry canopy management system.

The vineyards were hand-picked separately at high ripeness levels and whole-bunch pressed using very low maceration press cycles. Some of the fruit was pressed directly to barrel, the balance was lightly settled and then racked to barrel. The juice went through a natural indigenous yeast fermentation in French oak barriques (20% new), with the final phase continuing for many months. The wine received occasional lees stirring and underwent a complete malolactic fermentation. It was transferred out of oak after 11 months and bottled in October 2024, with alcohol 14.1%, pH 3.2 and acidity of 6.2 g/l.

‘…supremely youthful with its initial note of lemon- and smoke-bathed sweetcorn kernel. Supple smokiness speaks of the oak ageing, while the palate plunges deep into immense juiciness, again recalling that tropical edge of pineapple juiciness. All is here, with such fill, such brightness. This is both super-smooth and utterly lip-smacking. Exquisite tension for now is bedded softly in creamy oak.’
95 Points, Anne Krebiehl MW, DECANTER.COM