Millton Te Arai Vineyard Gisborne Chenin Blanc 2020

Description

• Subtle oak
• Mango & lime
• Green apple
• Mouth-watering acidity

With aromas of mango, tropical fruit, lime and green apple there is a mouth watering acidity complimented with a softening sweetness. Serve about 12ºC and allow to breathe for as long as you think best. Ageing potential is at least 10 years from date of release.

The Te Arai vineyard is five kilometres from the sea. “Te Arai” roughly translates to “the place where you pause before going on toward the land of eternal sunshine.” Quite appropriate for this wine, I thought. This maritime proximity underlies the wine’s unique South Pacific style. The silt soils give fragrance while the occasional incidence of botrytis, generated by the autumnal mists from the Te Arai stream, give complex texture, body and a sense of sweetness to the wine. In the Loire Valley of France, Chenin Blanc produces powerful wines of a similar character, which we refer to as our touchstone.

Over the years our determination to produce one of the world’s best wines from this variety is a seasonal challenge and a bottled fantasy. In 2020 we did four selections from the vineyard of hand harvested the grapes. On the crush pad the stems are discarded as these grapes give up their juice very easily during the long slow press cycle. The juice is collected and allowed to settle for only a short time as we wish to keep the fine sediments, for it is here that all the nutrients lie which satisfy a well behaved fermentation. The fermentation and maturation take place in demi-muids (large 600 litre oak barrels) and stainless steel tanks. The wine matures in these vessels over time, and without the obtrusion of oak tannins, which would otherwise disrespect the subtle fruit aromas.