We have been fans of the Brancott O Chardonnay for a while, so it was not a huge surprise to see that the previous 2022 vintage picked up the top award for overall champion wine of the show at the 2023 NZIWS. It sold out almost overnight so we have been looking forward to the 2023 release ever since!. From what many would consider a 'classic' Marlborough vintage, this release offers the such upfront plush drinkable that many of you have fallen in love with from the previous vintages! Can this now to avoid future disappointment!
This is a Chardonnay that is just damned delicious – probably the best taste note there is! Golden fruits, a layer of smoky flint on a creamy, butterscotch palate. O is also for Omaka, where this wine hails from in Marlborough. It is a fantastically rich Chardy where the 40% new oak is easily soaked up by the luscious golden fruits. Wild fermentation, lees stirring and full malolactic has added complexity and texture.
Winery notes (2023 Vintage)
"Crafted from grapes sourced from top-performing Marlborough vineyards, each wine is made in a distinctive style to reflect, not only the flavours of the region, but also the fine art of winemaking. The goal; a perfect harmony of aroma, flavour, structure and body.
This is a highly textured wine with flinty characters which marries beautifully with strong stone fruit and citrus notes, toasty and mealy complexity. Scattered throughout are notes of nutmeg and clove with floral highlights of jasmine. The luxurious palate is rich, soft and full of peaches, cream and toasted hazelnuts all combining to give a full textural finish."
Reviews for previous vintages below…
95/100 International Wine Challenge 2023, Judges Comment (2022 Vintage)
"Roasted nuts, some vanilla, great concentration and poise. Lovely flinty mineral style. Complex, multilayered with citrus. Floral and slightly stoney and toasty and lingering on finish."
NZIWS Judges' Comments (2022 Vintage)
"Wonderfully fragrant with peach and grapefruit on the nose with hints of vanilla, roasted cashew and gunsmoke. It's rounded, fleshy and lingering with biscuity flavours in the palate together with nougat and accents of citrus on the long and beautifully creamy finish that lingers so beautifully."
4 Stars Cuisine Chardonnay Tasting, August 2023 (2022 Vintage)
"A forward and bold, almost brazen, style done well. The palate is richly fruited with lots of butterscotch, cream and nuttiness and an oiliness that is quite pleasant. A bigger, more traditional example that will appeal to lovers of the style."
95/100 NWWA, Judges Comments (2021 Vintage)
"Sourced from a single vineyard on the southern side of the Wairau Valley, this Chardonnay exudes understated sophistication and poise. Beautifully crafted and elegantly structured with fine oak hidden beneath the incredible citrus fruit purity and flinty complexity. A salivating long grapefruit finish. A Chardonnay lover's dream! Enjoy with grilled fish and a delicious salad made with loads of fresh herbs."
5 Stars Michael Cooper (2020 Vintage)
"Named after the company's Omaka Vineyard, this typically powerful, high-flavoured wine is hand-picked at sites on the south side of the Wairau Valley, fermented with indigenous yeasts in French oak barriques (about 40 per cent new), and given a full, softening malolactic fermentation. The impressive 2020 vintage offers great value. Bright, light lemon/green, it has a fragrant, slightly smoky bouquet. Full-bodied, it is rich and smooth, with generous, peachy, citrusy flavours, oak-derived complexity, and cool-climate freshness and vigour. Best drinking mid-2023+."