Forrest Marlborough Chardonnay 2013

Description

"Equal portions tank and barrel-fermented to 12.5% alc., the oaked portion in barrel for 10 months with MLF. Brilliant straw-yellow. This has a firm, gunflinty nose, quite tightly bound with a complex amalgam of stonefruits and savoury nutty elements. Fresh and crisp on palate, the barrel portion providing some richness and creaminess. Good acidity and crispness to balance along with fine textures. The flintiness is more restrained on palate, and toasty oak shows" Raymond Chan, Aug 2016

Bright straw-yellow in colour, the bouquet is seamless with aromas of delicious lemon pudding and stone fruit, framed with biscuity, mealy nuances. The palate has medium weight with a beautiful creamy mouthfeel, balanced with vibrant acidity, exuding flavours of buttery pastry and an almond, pear tarte tatin, enveloped with subtle French oak. The wine has great length with lingering minerality on the finish.

Vintage 2013 was reminiscent of vintage 2011 – a mild temperate summer with regular small amounts of rain which resulted in healthy vines with active green leaves and to a slightly (5-7 days) earlier harvest. However, unlike 2011, crop levels were moderate, coming in exactly as estimated at 6-10 tonne/ha, depending on varietal. This was due to the relatively low per vine bunch numbers, which counter-balanced the higher berry number per bunch and individual berry size due to ideal growth conditions. So, overall a very good quality vintage, viticulturally straight forward, with ideal conditions, weather-wise over the 3 week harvest period.

Fruit intensity and flavour complexity are determined in the vineyard; here winemakers exploit known flavour differences between Chardonnay Clones 1, 15, 95 and Mendoza, restrained crop levels (6.4-8.2 tonne/ha) and our local knowledge of Marlborough’s differing terroir to maximum effect.

The grapes were machine harvested over a 7 day period, with 50% of the press free-run juice being put into new and older oak barriques for high solids primary and secondary malolactic fermentation prior to 10 month yeast autolysis maturation. The remaining 50% of the juice was cool fermented in tanks and aged with yeast lees stirring.