Hunter's Marlborough Chardonnay 2025

Description

Hazelnut, Oak, Peach

This wine displays vibrant stone fruit and citrus aromas, with subtle white peach undertones. A complex, flinty nose leads to a tightly structured palate, revealing bright grapefruit flavours and hints of toasted hazelnut. Well-integrated toasty oak provides excellent balance, complementing the wine’s silky texture and refined mouthfeel. Enjoyable upon release, this wine also has the structure and depth to develop beautifully over the next five to seven years.

At the start of the growing season, conditions were warm, with sufficient rainfall to ensure strong vine growth. December temperatures were well above average, leading to early flowering and excellent fruit set. January turned cooler, slowing fruit ripening. Fortunately, February, March and April saw a return to warmer, drier weather, allowing the generous crop to reach optimum ripeness in excellent condition.

Chardonnay grapes were sourced from the Rapaura and Omaka sub-regions of Marlborough. We have sourced fruit from these same vineyards for many years, providing the wine with a high level of consistency. The grapes were hand-picked and pressed without the addition of sulphur into a stainless-steel vat. The cloudy juice was then transferred to 500-litre French oak puncheons for fermentation. Indigenous yeasts were employed for alcoholic fermentation, after which 80% of the wine underwent malolactic fermentation. The wine was aged on its yeast lees in puncheons for 12 months before being racked off its lees in preparation for bottling. This wine is Certified Vegan by the NZ Vegetarian Society.