DOCTORS FLAT CHARDONNAY 2024

Winery notes (2024 Vintage)
"Doctors Flat Vineyard is a single site in Bannockburn. The schist subsoil was ground off the Cairnmuir Mountains by glacial ice and deposited here about 480,000 years ago. The glacial action and millennia of weathering have generated an abundance of clay and fine silt in the vineyard gravel. We know soil texture drives wine texture and this vineyard produces wines with density, finesse and great texture.

We farm organically to foster the symbiosis between vines and soil biology. The vines actively feed the microlife and in return they harvest and transport water and nutrient back to the vines. It’s this connection between site and vine that gives Doctors Flat it’s character and sense of place.

In 2020 we added 0.6 Ha of chardonnay to the vineyard, planting clones 548 and Mendoza. The 2024 is the first commercial Chardonnay harvest and we adopt the same ethos as is applied to the Pinot winemaking, a simple programme of close attention, minimal inputs and a very light hand in the extraction process. The grapes were whole bunch pressed, allowed to ferment in barrel with their own indigenous yeast. ML was delayed until spring and SO2 not added until late summer. The wine was then racked with light lees to a small tank and bottled after a second winter."

Rated Outstanding, Mark Henderson, Otago Daily Times, June 2026 (2024 Vintage)
"Preserved lemon and dried fruits, then stone fruits and minerality, finely scented. Nectarine and stone fruits lead the palate, hints of pineapple, again that minerality, delicious juiciness that gives openness, yet structure promising more. Layers of flavour that hang in the mouth,, superb complexity and interest. Bran/warm brioche and grilled nuts on the nose now, you want another glass."