Mt Beautiful North Canterbury Chardonnay 2017

Description

With aromatics of ripe apple and white peach, this Chardonnay has a creamy texture that makes it easy to drink. Medium bodied with underlying notes of roasted almonds and nectarine confit, it finishes clean and crisp with a lovely persistent flint like minerality.

This Chardonnay is planted on the most Northern part of the vineyard and is hand tended and hand harvested. The clones are a mixture of French clones B 95 and 2/23 grafted onto rootstock. The vineyard is in charge of dictating the flavour profile of the Chardonnay, so far yielding peachy stone fruits and creamy almond flavours. The first vintage was 2013.

2017 was a tricky vintage overall. Inclement weather lead to some of the fruit being picked earlier than preferred, however, fruit harvested later on was some of the best Chardonnay Mt. Beautiful’s estate has ever produced. Picking commenced on the 7th of April and finished on the 28th. All of our Chardonnay was handpicked in different batches depending on levels of ripeness. It was then gently whole bunch pressed which resulted in delicate fruit-driven aromas and good palate weight, while minimizing the extraction of undesirable phenolics. Once pressed, the juice settled for 24 hours before the clear juice was put (50/50 split) into tank and barrel (new and neutral oak) for fermentation. The barrel portion underwent partial malolactic fermentation. Both barrel and tank components were aged on lees for 10 months adding textural elements to the wine such as a scrumptious creamness.

Food Pairing: Pair the Mt. Beautiful Chardonnay with roasted chicken, salmon dishes, Coquille St. Jacques, and a playful perspective about life.