Greywacke Chardonnay Marlborough New Zealand 2022 750ml

Enticing aromas of brown sugar and vanilla custard entwine with a bright citrus note reminiscent of home-made lemon curd. The palate is layered with ripe golden peaches and caramelised figs, while being driven by a seam of flinty minerality. There is an earthy richness, evoking thoughts of freshly cut hay, roasted nuts and faint whiffs of wood smoke. A wine with hidden charms, tight structure and excellent ageing potential.

The grapes for this wine are primarily the low-yielding Mendoza clone, known for its  concentration of flavour and crisp acidity; the balance is Clone 95. The majority of fruit was sourced from the lower reaches of the Brancott Valley and Fairhall, grown in gravelly, clay loam soils, with the remainder coming from Renwick and Rapaura, grown in young alluvial soils containing high proportions of New Zealand’s ubiquitous greywacke river stones. The
vineyards were mostly trained using a two-cane VSP (vertical shoot positioning) 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 September 2023, with alcohol 13.5%, pH 3.34 and acidity of 5.7 g/l