Clark Estate Penelope Jane Marlborough Chardonnay 2023

Description

Lemon, Oak, Spice

"It's splendidly expressed on the nose with aromas of golden peach, pineapple, lemon zest, and roasted nuts. The palate displays excellent weight and silky flow, beautifully framed by juicy acidity, resulting in a balanced, structured wine with a delectable finish. At its best: now to 2029. 93 points 5 stars. March 2026" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit

"Aromas of lemon confit, baking spices and grapefruit. The palate is textural and creamy with a fine acidity, giving notes of Asian pears, yellow apples, cookies and orange peel. Good balance with an underlying freshness. Drink or hold" James Suckling

The 2023 Penelope Jane Chardonnay is a beautifully balanced and powerful wine. Lovely buttery citrus and stone fruit flavours are perfectly integrated with hints of oak to create a fresh but complex wine.

Our Chardonnay vines are still young, growing in an area with more stones than soil. Each year the vines have to survive through harsh frosts, strong winds and stony soils. As a result, yields are always low as the vines divert their energy into surviving rather than producing a heavy crop. The low yields combined with the long growing season of the Upper Awatere valley intensifies the fruit flavours ready for harvest in late March.

Our style of Chardonnay is driven by the cool climate of the Awatere Valley and the use of older oak barrels. The subtle oak flavours integrate beautifully with the citrus and lighter stone fruit flavours of the fruit. Once ferment is complete, the wines are kept in barrel for several months maturing on the yeast lees. Before bottling, the wines undergo Malo-Lactic fermentation, although this is kept to around 30% so as not to dominate the final wine.