ESK VALLEY CHARDONNAY 2020

Winemaker Gordon Russell likes to pick earlier rather than later to preserve acid freshness ('electricity'). This has a beautiful blend of white and yellow peach flavours; a hint of butter with the acidity holding it in place. A beautiful Chardonnay. 

Winery notes (2020 Vintage)
"This is a medium-bodied and elegant Hawkes Bay Chardonnay. Its flavour profile is a mix of ripe peach, intermingled with hints of butter, grilled nuts, grapefruit and subtle oak spice. It is both complex and delicious.

The fruit for this wine is sourced from vineyard sites around the Hawkes Bay. Vineyards in the north at Bay View provide the finished wine with ripe tropical fruit flavours while sites on the terraces above the Tutaekuri River at Puketapu add a flintier, grapefruit note. These sites also provide a natural acidity to the blended wine. 

The individual vineyard parcels were harvested separately in early March and fermented in both tank (60%) and French oak barriques. A small percentage was allowed to undergo malolactic fermentation to soften the wine and add richness and complexity."

Reviews for previous vintages below…

4 ½ Stars Michael Cooper (2018 Vintage)
"Top vintages can offer irresistible value. Retasted in mid 2020, the 2018 vintage was predominantly (92 per cent) fermented in French oak barriques (12 per cent new); 8 per cent of the blend was cool-fermented in tanks. Weighty, with a fragrant, complex bouquet, it is vibantly fruity, with generous, ripe stone-fruit flavours to the fore, slightly spicy and smoky notes adding complexity, and obvious potential. Best drinking 2021+."

4 Stars & Best Buy Cuisine Chardonnay Tasting, October 2020 (2018 Vintage)
"Ripe-fruit flavours of  peach, nectarine and fig combine into a fantastic compote of aromas and flavours on the nose and the palate. Subtle and supple oak spice interweaves among the fruit creating a rich complex wine with driven acidity. A very smart example."