15-Sep-2017
Following a hiatus, Denny Downie and Jane Gill, the Desert Heart girls, are back in action, with a new home site on Felton Road where they will soon open their cellar door. They are selling stocks of wine held back, but these are rapidly dwindling, and they have been making wine from vineyards of their friends and neighbours, to supplement that which will eventually come their own vines. The Desert Heart ‘Renaissance’ Chardonnay 2012 was a real success (click here to see my review), so Denny and Jane have wished to continue with the variety in their portfolio. Unfortunately, in 2015, suitable fruit up to the required standard from Central Otago just wasn’t available. In fact there is very little Central Otago fruit available on the market nowadays. Denny says she "spent an inordinate amount of time endeavouring to buy Chardonnay grapes, firstly in Bannockburn, and also in Central Otago…I also tried Waitaki to no avail”. Going further afield she found a Chardonnay wine in Marlborough "through a respectable winery”, that would work in the ‘Untamed Heart’ second tier. The wine is "fruit-driven and lightly oaked”. I review the wine here. www.desertheart.co.nz
