MATAWHERO IRWIN CHARDONNAY 2021

Winery notes (2021 Vintage)
"This flagship Chardonnay expresses a medley of peach and melon flavours, overlaid with toasty oak. A rich, ripe style with finely integrated oak and a taut but harmonious acidity on the finish.

This flagship Chardonnay is made from 100% Mendoza grapes from the famous Tietjen vineyard on the Golden Slopes sub region of Gisborne. The site has a rich history in producing award-winning Chardonnay for over 20 years. This narrow 10km strip is made up of small parcels of elevated sloping land. Medium to heavy Kaiti clay base is overlaid with 20-30cm of light black topsoil, with influences from the limestone foothills. These conditions allow vines to grow with a balance suited to super-premium winemaking. We target low volumes, the grapes are hand leaf plucked and the crop reduced to 6 tonnes per hectare to increase the intensity and flavours in the wine.

Hand picked in the cool of the morning, the fruit for this wine achieved superb ripeness after another warm season in Gisborne. The grapes were gently pressed and slightly clarified prior to fermentation. The juice was then inoculated with the indigenous yeast from the vineyard using a technique called Pied du Cuvé. Here we pick a small parcel of grapes and crush prior to the full harvest and allow them to ferment on the skins. We then add these back into the juice to ferment the full parcel. This gives us a true expression and terroir of the vineyard and provides layers of flavour and aroma complexity, as well as wonderful palate texture. Fermentation in a mixture of American and Hungarian oak barriques ensures a perfect integration of oak character and full malolactic fermentation adds richness and length. The wine is sir lie for 10 months before careful fining and bottling."

5 Stars & 97/100 Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, July 2023 (2021 Vintage)
"Immensely complex and inviting with ripe stone fruit, rockmelon, brioche, French vanilla and spicy oak aromas, it’s concentrated and expansive in the mouth delivering terrific power as well as refinement and grace. Wonderfully framed by bright acidity and creamy texture, finishing impressively long and satisfying. At its best: now to 2031."

Rated Outstanding & 95/100 Cameron Douglas MS, July 2023 (2021 Vintage)
"This flagship style from the Matawhero team never fails to impress, this wine showcases a bouquet and palate of complexity, layers of ripe yellow and white fleshed fruits, cashew nut and white smoke barrel impacts. There’s a definitively flinty, mineral quality, a gravel and stony earth quality and warming alcohol. Acidity and some finer wood tannins add mouthfeel and length on the palate. A complex yet youthful wine that has potential to age well and offer excellent drinking in the future when stored well. Best drinking from late 2024 through 2030."

92/100 Emma Jenkins MW, Decanter UK, March 2025 (2021 Vintage)
"A golden, fruit-rich wine, showcasing Gisborne’s ripeness and rounded weightiness with finesse. Expressive with cantaloupe, cashew and butterscotch, the palate charts a similar path in a deftly handled, well-balanced style that it is luscious but never overblown. A fine thread of acidity and taut savoury finish keep everything in line. A fitting tribute to founder Denis Irwin."