Te Mata Estate Elston Chardonnay 2021 Hawke's Bay New Zealand 750ml

Brilliant white gold in the glass, Elston Chardonnay ’21 has wonderfully intense aromas of golden peach, apricot, and lemon zest. Focused but flowing – this is a wine of precision, power, and poise. On the mouth-watering palate there’s oodles of ripe, white-fleshed fruit, nougat and nutmeg, integrated fine oak tannin, and just a flick of salinity. A long line of sweet citrus acidity and ripe Hawke’s Bay chardonnay fruit run through here.

Produced since 1984, Elston is grown on the estate’s oldest vines on hillsides overlooking the winery. Elston is named for Elston Hall in Nottinghamshire, the ancestral home of Charles Darwin’s family. Darwin’s ‘theory of natural selection’ forms the basis of modern evolutionary theory, the foundation of biology. The wyvern symbol of Elston Hall appears on the label.

The superb quality of the 2021 vintage was immediately apparent in the fully ripe grapes that were hand-harvested from their separate, individual plots within Te Mata Estate’s Havelock Hills vineyards between February 15-27, 2021. The grapes were carefully sorted then fermented in a mix of new and seasoned French oak barrels. The wine then spends 10 months after fermentation resting on its lees in barrel to gain further complexity and depth.

Winemaker’s tip: serve with a pumpkin and leek risotto.

Drink 2022-2030

"Expressive nose of white grapefruit, white pears, sea shells, nutmeg, cloves and dried lemons. It's medium- to full-bodied with a creamy and layered texture. Vibrant. Lovely sweet fruit and integrated subtle spice notes." 93/100pts James Suckling, November 2022

“The acidity here is juicy and very bright; the orchard fruit in the mouth is silky and plush; and the Malo component contributes a real sweet marzipan, almond skin, crushed nut, vanilla character. Very pretty. Elegant. There is detail, spice and verve here”. 93/100pts Wine Advocate