Winery notes (2022 Vintage)
"Man O’ War Estate Chardonnay 2022 is loaded with citrus zest and crisp orchard fruits along with fresh bread and a subtle creamy nutty hazelnut character. The wine is full bodied with an excellent balance between fruit weight, acidity and crisp tannin and shows the positive effect of picking slightly earlier in a hot vintage, credit to Mother Nature for giving us a hurry along to start harvest!
The Estate Chardonnay is selected from elevated sites across the property which are cooler and exposed to the winds coming off the Pacific Ocean. Vintage 2022 was a very good growing season, hot with little rainfall throughout the summer apart from Cyclone Dovi which hit New Zealand in early February and set the harvest into motion with these exposed sites. Thankfully after such a hot summer the flavour development was excellent, and the early pick preserved acidity creating a wine of great balance despite the disruption caused by Dovi.
All the fruit is hand harvested and fermented on ‘full solids’ in 500 litre puncheons, aged on lees without any stirring and sulphured prior to the onset of Malolactic fermentation to preserve the wines linear flow."