Auntsfield Single Vineyard Marlborough Chardonnay 2023

Description

Apricot, Nougat, Oak

"It's elegant and inviting on the nose with aromas of ripe peach, rockmelon, lemon peel, subtle vanilla, and toasted almond. The palate delivers excellent weight and silky flow, beautifully complemented by creamy texture and finely pitched acidity, finishing persistent and stylish. At its best: now to 2033" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, Apr 2025

Rich straw gold. Intense and complex, this wine displays aromas of peach skin, mandarin peel, and lemon tart, integrated with brioche and apricot nougat aromas from the French oak influence. Ripe and intense stone fruit flavours of peach and dried apricot complemented by subtle French oak influence giving hints of roasted hazelnut and fig. Generous stone fruit continues in the palate with underlying minerality and seamless length.

Auntsfield continues the proud heritage of Marlborough’s first vineyard and winery
established in 1892. Our Single Vineyard wines are made from grapes grown at Auntsfield Estate. Each wine shows the distinctive characteristics of ripeness, texture and minerality - qualities unique to the ancient Greywacke rock and Loess clay soils of the vineyard. Auntsfield produces Chardonnay with finesse, restraint, honed focus and a textured mineral structure. Only the best fruit is used with the resulting wine showing a real sense of place that showcases the mineral structure of the old clay soils of the vineyard.

The 2023 season was excellent. Regular winter rainfall and a cool spring encouraged canopy growth but kept cropping levels at a balanced level. Summer had regular rainfall but stayed relatively cool resulting in healthy vines with no disease or water stress. There was a slow progression into autumn with a long drawn-out ripening period where the fruit reached optimum ripeness in perfect harvest conditions.

The fruit for this wine was hand harvested and whole bunch pressed. The juice was fermented in French oak barrels with indigenous (from Auntsfield vineyard) yeast. Maturation on yeast lees allowed the oak flavours to subtly integrate with the fruit to develop depth and complexity in the wine.