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Buy OnlineWinery notes (2020 Vintage)
"Cashew and peach aromas with a lovely mealyness and a fennel edge. Sweet peachy entry with cashew again and layers of vanilla, cedar and apple that all push through to the finish to linger – joined there by grapefruit and spice. Intense with good volume and power. Rich and complex.
Fruit was hand picked from old Mendoza clone Chardonnay vines and whole bunch pressed. The juice was fermented with predominantly wild yeast in a combination of new and seasoned French oak barriques. After ferment the wine was lees stirred to add complexity and build palate weight. The wine spent eleven months in barrel before assembly and bottling."
Rated Outstanding & 95/100 Cameron Douglas MS, December 2021 (2020 Vintage)
"A lovely bouquet with a complex package of aromas from cashew nut to baked peach, whispers of butterscotch and new sweet French oak. Vanilla and raw sugar scents with a fine toasty wood quality, apple, a touch of quince and pear then grapefruit. In other words – complex. On the palate – equally complex with a distinctive palate texture from fine tannins, acidity and contrasting core of fruit. There’s a touch of wood smoke and stony earthy qualities as well. Youthful and needing some cellar time to integrate properly with best drinking from late 2022 through 2030+."
Reviews for the 2019 vintage below…
5 Stars Michael Cooper (2019 Vintage)
"Babich's flagship Chardonnay. A stylish wine, Irongate was traditionally markedly leaner and tighter than other top Hawke's Bay Chardonnays, while performing well in the cellar, but the latest releases have more drink-young appeal. It is based on hand-picked fruit from the Irongate Vineyard in Gimblett Road, fully barrel-fermented (about 20 per cent new), and lees-matured for up to 10 months. Bright, light lemon/green, the impressive 2019 vintage is a fragrant, weighty wine, with deep grapefruit and peach flavours, finely integrated oak adding complexity, balanced acidity and a very harmonious, persistent finish. Likely to be long-lived, it should be at its best 2023+."
