Man O' War Valkyrie Waiheke Chardonnay 2017

Description

The 2017 Valkyrie is very much like biting into a nectarine plucked freshly from the tree, fresh and crunchy with slightly more obvious acidity and tannin than say fruit purchased from a store. There is fresh juicy peachy flavours in the wine but also a pleasant herbal note of ‘just ripe’ stone fruits which comes through in both its texture and structure.

Valkyrie Chardonnay represents a desire to produce a wine made exclusively from vineyards planted in a soil type unique to Man O’ War called the Stony Batter clay loam. These are a distinct volcanic influenced soil found only on the central elevated parts of the Man O’ War property. These sites are not only influenced by their soil but also their elevation, aspect and exposure to cooling maritime winds making for a distinctive expression of Chardonnay. Drawing from our experience in making Chardonnay we hoped to combine the best of our techniques to represent the unique terroir of these sites. We have found that a gentle maceration of the whole bunches with our feet before pressing increases the amount of grape solids in the juice which we then separate from the heavy sediment resulting in a finer type of tannin in the wine. The juice is fermented in barrel with wild yeasts and when fermentation is finished we add small amounts of sulphur at each topping to preserve the freshness and fruitfulness of the wine. We do not stir the lees or allow the wine to go through malolactic fermentation.

This is a wine that perfectly suits raw seafood especially oysters as well as richer types such as seared scallops or poached crayfish or classic fish n’ chips. Equally suited for simple pasta dishes or roasted white meats and poultry.