Hãhã Hawkes Bay Chardonnay 2020

Description

• Golden peach
• Toasted oak
• Honeydew
• Creamy finish

"Attractively ripe and elegantly fragrant, the wine shows apricot, grapefruit, roasted nut, nougat and oatmeal characters on the nose, leading to a succulent palate delivering lovely weight and supple mouthfeel. It’s soothing and comforting with creamy texture and refreshing acidity, offering delightful drinking. At its best: now to 2024" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, Oct 2020

Pale straw colour in the glass. Enticing fruit aromas of ripe golden peach, apricot and grapefruit, supported by toasty oak. The palate is broad and soft, with delicious flavours of peaches and honeydew melon, accentuated by the extra creaminess and texture from the lees aging.

They were incredibly lucky to be able to create this wine in 2020, with the country in a nationwide lockdown during the harvest period due to COVID-19. Fortunately, after excellent weather and a classic Indian summer, harvest was a real pleasure and all of their 2020 wines carry some unique memories. The fruit for their 2020 Chardonnay was sourced from vineyards located on the silty river banks of Hawke’s Bay.

The parcels of fruit were harvested and gently pressed on arrival to the winery. The juice was cold settled before being inoculated with selected yeasts to undergo controlled fermentation in a mix of tanks and barrels. Approximately 50% of the parcels went through malolactic fermentation to add complexity and add to the creamy mouthfeel. Following fermentation the wine was aged on full lees prior to blending, stabilization, filtering and bottling.

Food Pairing: Superb on its own or lightly chilled with a full-flavoured creamy lemon chicken dish.