Hunter's Marlborough Chardonnay 2020

Description

• French oak
• Ripe pear & stonefruit
• Roasted nut & ginger
• Finely textured

"Offering fine value, this youthful wine was grown at Rapaura and Omaka, and fermented and matured for a year in French oak puncheons (25% new). Bright, light yellow/green, it is mouthfilling and savoury, with generous, peachy, citrusy flavours, showing very good complexity, and a finely textured, very harmonious finish" Winestate Magazine, Jul 2022

"Gently aromatic wine with white peach, nectarine, lime, roasted chestnut, and ginger. Light, tangy Chardonnay with a strong fruit focus. Best drinking 2022-2025" Bob Campbell, Master of Wine, Real Review, Jun 2022

"The impressive, youthful 2020 vintage, grown in the Rapaura and Omaka districts, was fermented with indigenous yeasts and lees-aged for a year in French oak casks (25 per cent new). Bright, light yellow/green, it is mouthfilling, generous and savoury, with strong, ripe, peachy, citrusy flavours, a subtle seasoning of oak, very good complexity, and a finely textured, harmonious finish. Best drinking mid – 2022+" Michael Cooper, NZ Wines, Mar 2022

The wine has a complex, flinty nose with beautiful stone-fruit and ripe pear characters with some citrus undertones. The palate shows a tight mid-palate with floral characters that leads into a complex and juicy finish. Good balance from the toasty vanilla oak character that compliments the fruity structure. This wine drinks very well on release but will develop and evolve over the next 5-7 years.

The 2020 growing season was one to remember for the amazing weather conditions in Marlborough. During Summer and Autum we had warm and dry conditions throughout, allowing for clean fruit and an early start to the vintage. These conditions resulted in grapes that was picked with good natural acidity relative to their sugar and flavour ripeness. 2020 will prove to be an exceptional vintage.

Chardonnay grapes were sourced from the Rapaura and Omaka sub regions of Marlborough.
We have been using the same vineyards for many years which gives the wine a certain level of consistency.
The grapes were picked by machine or hand depending on the block and pressed without sulphur to a stainless-steel vat. The cloudy juice was transferred into 500 litre French oak puncheons for fermentation. Indigenous yeasts were employed for alcoholic fermentation after which, 80% malolactic fermentation occurred. The wine was aged in puncheons on yeast lees for 12 months before racked off its lees ready for bottling.