Organised Chaos Hawke's Bay Chardonnay 2020

Description

• French oak
• Fresh
• Zingy
• Creamy texture

Fresh and vibrant, zingy and textural, with just a dash of nice toasty oak. Chardonnay as it should be!

The Chardonnay is grown by Pieter Koopman, in the Havelock Hills. This region is characterised by its north facing aspect and its limestone rich soils. No herbicide is used and an organic canopy spray regime is adhered to. Pieter’s farming methods lead to unadulterated site expression.

2020 ended up being a superb vintage. A perfect flowering was followed by prolonged wet and humid period through the later parts of December and most of January. From late January, however, unusually hot (38ºC plus in the vineyard) and dry weather persisted well into autumn and continued into winter. This made for an excellent harvest period and fruit was able to be picked when it was physiologically ripe without sugars getting too high and allowing alcohols to be kept down.

Hand picked and whole bunch pressed on the 28th of March 2020. Fermented with CY3079 , the 2020 was fermented and aged in a mix of old French oak barrels (15%) and stainless steel tanks. Partial malolactic fermentation (30%), enables the wine to retain its freshness and really show off the limestone minerality. 6 months ageing on gross lees, with weekly batonage, brings a creamy, textural element to the wine.