Winery notes (2021 Vintage)
"A virtual marmalade of pink grapefruit and limes, with a dash of stem ginger and orange zest. Tropical aromas of mango and pineapple merge with the bright citrus notes and mingle with an earthy mealiness reminiscent of petrichor (summer rain on dry ground). Greywacke Chardonnay has a unique and seductive sweet-savoury combination that carries through onto a wonderfully dry, flinty palate. A wine of incredible concentration, tight structure and excellent ageing potential.
The vineyards were hand-picked separately at high ripeness levels and whole-bunch pressed using very low maceration press cycles. Some of the fruit was pressed directly to barrel, the balance was lightly settled and then racked to barrel. The juice went through a natural indigenous yeast fermentation in French oak barriques (20% new), with the final phase continuing for many months. The wine received occasional lees stirring and underwent a complete malolactic fermentation. It was transferred out of oak after 11 months and bottled in October 2022."
5 Stars Michael Cooper (2021 Vintage)
"The powerful 2021 vintage was grown principally in the lower reaches of the Brancott Valley and at Fairhall, with smaller amounts from Renwick and Rapaura. Hand-harvested, it was fermented and matured for 11 months in French oak barriques (20 per cent new). Bright, light yellow/green, it has a fragrant, gently smoky bouquet. Notably sturdy and weighty, it has finely balanced acidity and concentrated, ripe stonefruit flavours, complex and savoury. A bolder style than most of the region's Chardonnays, it should be at its best 2025+."
Reviews for previous vintages below…
5 Stars & 95/100 Bob Campbell MW, The Real Review, June 2022 (2019 Vintage)
"Rich, smooth-textured wine with grapefruit, a hint of green apple, freshly baked bread, oyster shell and classy French oak flavours. Still quite closed and youthful with masses of potential for bottle development."
Rated Excellent & 95/100 Cameron Douglas MS, May 2022 (2019 Vintage)
"A totally captivating bouquet laced with aromas of baked stone fruits and wood spices. There’s a stony soil mineral quality that sits just beneath scents of apple and white peach, baking spices and a fine flinty quality. On the palate – a wine of texture and complexity, a core of fruit and oak spices, some battonage toastiness and a long weighty, finish. Complex and youthful, textured and dry, a wine that will continue to age and develop with best drinking from 2023 through 2030+."
Rated Excellent, 5 Stars & 94/100 NZ Wine Rater, July 2021 (2018 Vintage)
"This is a very intense, complex, funky, voluminous nose with lemon-rind, grapefruit, and peach fruit with buttered popcorn, and freshly baked whole-meal bread barrel-ferment characters. A rich, opulent wine with a creamy mid-palate texture but plenty of salivating, fresh acidity to balance. A smart, satisfying wine with a lot to offer."