Vidal Soler Hawkes Bay Chardonnay 2018

Description

• French oak
• Golden peach
• Rockmelon & grapefruit
• Vanilla & burnt butter

"There’s no mistaking the power and youthful impact that the bouquet of this wine offers - peach and nectarine, vanilla, burnt butter and brazil nut, lees spices and blond tobacco. A natural complexity and raw energy. Equally intense on the palate with flavours of yellow stone fruit, grapefruit, apple and layers of wood spice and lees textures. An abundance of oak and acidity with some fine oak tannins. Very lengthy & finishing just dry and complex. Decant for service now and through 2021. Ideal drinking from 2021 through 2028" Cameron Douglas, Master Sommelier

"Intense Chardonnay with tangy citrus, oyster shell/mineral and spicy oak flavours. Taut, powerful wine that benefits from light aeration and will inevitably repay a few years bottle age. Impressive purity and a very lengthy finish. Serious Chardonnay" Bob Campbell, Master of Wine, Real Review

"The wine is gorgeously expressed on the nose showing golden peach, rockmelon, vanilla, flint and cedar characters with a touch of oatmeal complexity. The palate delivers excellent weight and concentration, wonderfully complemented by expansive mouthfeel and creamy texture, superbly structured by vibrant acidity. At its best: now to 2023" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit

"An upfront and confident Hawke’s Bay chardonnay with flint notes, bold spice and stonefruit notes on the nose. All of these provide the perfect opening stanza for what unfolds into a powerfully built, ripe, rich long and vibrant palate with wonderful texture" Cuisine Magazine, Oct 2020

The 2017/2018 growing season has produced a wine showing concentration, fragrance and restraint. Citrus, white stone fruit, roasted nuts and oyster shell combine on a finely styled and textured palate. Showing vibrancy, balance and background complexity this Chardonnay will continue to age gracefully over time.

The 2017/2018 growing season had a warm and relatively dry early summer which led to very hot conditions for the key ripening months of January and February. The GDD for the season was 16% above the long term average. Low crop yields and good flavour concentration allowed us to harvest fruit in excellent condition between the 6th and 16th of March.

Planted in 2008, the Kokako Vineyard is situated on an old river bed, primarily made up of Omahu Gravel soils topped with Twyford silt on what is a relatively uniform block. Naturally low vigour soils and good airflow of this river bed site combined with shoot and bunch thinning and attention to detail in the vineyard creates the opportunity to produce high-quality Chardonnay.