Chardonnay, Marlborough, 2022
Chardonnay was originally intended to be the star variety of The Marlborist. Produced from three different vineyards: one in the Brancott Valley, more clay based; Auntsville Estate in the Southern Valleys, clay-loam, and a third in the Wairau Valley on alluvial soils. The combination of free-draining soils and naturally low yields produces small, golden bunches of intensely flavoured fruit. Hand-picked and pressed gently to oak (following the Champagne cycle) for fermentation, it was raised in barrel, 30% new Francois Freres for 11 months plus a further 6 months in tank. This Chardonnay is taut and concentrated, with bristling high acidity and plenty of grapefruit and citrus, roasted nuts, brioche and just a touch of nectarine.
critic reviews
The 2022 Chardonnay is a firm, flinty, focused expression. It is a wine with a real sense of direction, its citrus-like acid line giving it power and pace, like a galloping horse. It was produced with minimal handling: hand-harvested, whole-bunch pressed, spontaneously fermented in oak and puncheons with the bare minimum of lees-stirring. There’s plenty of fruit purity here as well as quality-wood-derived nutty nuances. Young, tight and energetic, this is one for those who like their Chardonnays with pizzazz. If you do, you'll find this well made and long.