Martinborough Vineyard Home Block Chardonnay 2024

Description

Floral, Hazelnut, Peach

Vibrant and complex, with white peach, citrus blossom, and hints of charred hazelnut and flint. A finely structured palate shows ripe stone fruit balanced by fresh acidity, leading to an elegant, toasty finish. Precise and powerful.

The Home Block is where it all began back in 1980, and our quest to perfect Martinborough’s venerable style continues here today with some of the oldest Pinot Noir vines in New Zealand. Winemaker Tom Turner’s pursuit of perfection starts in the vineyard and can be found in every structured, balanced, nuanced glass of Martinborough Vineyard.

Hand-picked from our oldest blocks of Pinot Noir on the Martinborough Terrace, the age of these vines is now beginning to show a real sense of terroir. The region has a cool, maritime climate, low annual rainfall, windy springs and a long warm ripening period through autumn. All this results in a naturally low-vigour site which regulates crops ensuring consistently ripe, high quality grapes are harvested.

The 2024 vintage stands out as one of Martinborough’s finest. A strong start with good soil moisture and warm winter conditions, combined with minimal spring frost, set the season up well. Cooler flowering reduced yields by around 30% for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, but near-perfect conditions from Christmas onward ensured excellent ripening. Harvest began on March 11th and finished within three weeks. Like the great vintages of 2021, 2015, and 2007, the wines show impressive structure, concentration, and richness even in their youth.

At peak ripeness fruit was carefully sorted during hand harvesting and then whole-bunch pressed. The juice was left to settle for 2 hours before being racked to French oak barrels for fermentation. Only indigenous yeasts were used in the fermentation process. The oak was carefully chosen for elegance to complement the fine structure of the wine. Aged in barrels on lees for twelve months, this wine underwent 100% malolactic conversion and light wintertime lees stirring before being blended and prepared for bottling in winter of 2025.

Food Pairing: Enjoy with grilled peach and halloumi salad, crayfish with brown butter, or roast chicken with wild mushrooms.