Chardonnay from New Zealand - Otago
Review Date : 19-Dec-2016
Bright straw-yellow colour with a light golden hue, pale on the rim. The nose is fine in presentation with a tightly concentrated and taut core of aromas of cool and refreshing white stonefruits entwined with herb notes, nutty and toasty oak, lemon-curd and buttery MLF and chalky, minerally lees nuances. Medium-full bodied, the palate is tight and concentrated with intense flavours of white stonefruits encased by spicy, toasty and nutty oak which unfolds creamy barrel-ferment elements. The mouthfeel is brisk with refreshing, zesty acidity, and the wine flows long a fine phenolic, textural line. Smoky oak, mineral lees, lemon-curd and butter MLF detail emerges and carries to a long, concentrated, crisp finish. This is a taut and concentrated, intense Chardonnay with white stonefruit flavours carried by plenty of spicy and toasty oak, with nutty, buttery and smoky detail, and a brisk, textural palate. Match with grilled and roasted seafood, poultry and pork over the next 4+ years. Clone 1066, 809 and 548 fruit from the ‘Defiance’ vineyard, WBP and fully barrel-fermented to 14.0% alc., the wine aged 10 months in French oak barriques, undergoing batonnage and MLF. 18.0-/20 Dec 2016 RRP $28.00
