Toi Toi Lifestyle Gisborne Chardonnay 2022

Description

• Subtle oak
• Nectarine & fig
• Hazelnut & nougat
• Smooth texture

"It's delightfully fruited and elegantly fragrant on the nose showing nectarine, fig, lemon peel and nougat notes, leading to a succulent palate offering smooth texture and bright acidity. Well balanced and harmonious with a lengthy juicy finish. At its best: now to 2025" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, Aug 2022

"Early bottling for Chardonnay and little or no oak impact. So the fruit has to stand and does well. A clean wine, pretty dry to taste; food-friendly especially fish/shellfish, including salmon. Watch this one evolve through Christmas 2022 and on into 2024" Peter Saunders, Aug 2022

Our 2022 Gisborne Chardonnay delights the nose with nectarine, fig and hazelnut supported by a spicy oak hit. While the colour is an attractive light straw, you’ll find it rich and creamy, while not being overpowering. This vintage gives generous flavours of ruby grapefruit and white peach and includes a little phenolic and oak grip. Long lasting with a fine acid to support the fruit. An approachable Chardonnay that is gaining in popularity.

The grapes for our 2022 Gisborne Chardonnay are grown at the Brunton Road Vineyard in the Patutahi Plateau, Gisborne’s youngest and most promising growing spot. The rich Kaiti clay in the soil here is famous for producing premium flavoured fruit. This spot is much warmer and drier than other areas.

Our Gisborne Chardonnay harvest occurs in mid-March. The grapes are machine-harvested in the cool mornings and evenings. The fruit is then taken to a local winery for juicing. We press the grapes gently and the free-run juice is kept separate from the pressings. The free-run juice is left to settle for 24 hours then is racked with some of the grape solids to create weight and texture. The pressings are hyper-oxidised to reduce phenolics and to add weight to our wine.

The juice is then chilled and taken to our Marlborough winery to be fermented. It is split into two batches to be fermented with different yeasts, one textural and the other fruit-focused. After fermentation, the batches are blended and aged on lees with oak staves. Weekly stirring of the lees adds a silky texture and mouthfeel. A second Malolactic fermentation occurs at this point and is stopped at 20-25% to add a creamy layer. After 5-6 months, the wine is racked off lees and oak and we bottle it as 2022 Gisborne Chardonnay.