Quarter Acre Hawke's Bay Chardonnay 2018

Description

Subtle mineral, toast and peach characters on the nose with lemon curd and a precise, taut palate. The wine is chalky, complex, mouth-filling and packed with Hawke’s Bay.

The grapes for the Quarter Acre Chardonnay come from two vineyards; the Doc’s Block by the sea at Haumoana where the vines are about 20 years old and an organically certified block where the vines are 12 years old and are planted on an ancient river terrace on the Ngaruroro River. An extremely hot, dry Summer leading into a warm Autumn meant a slightly earlier harvest in 2018. Vine yield was kept at between 1.3 and 2.0 kg per vine to ensure acid balance, flavour and intensity.

Winemakers whole bunch pressed hand-picked fruit and ran the juice straight to French oak barriques, around 30% of which were new and 35% second-fill. Wild ferment took a while to get underway, however once it got going it fermented hot and fast. Around 80% natural MLF took off in spring and the wine rested on gross lees for around nine months before it was blended and bottled. With the mix of a moderate alcohol, low pH and bright acidity, this wine is going to age beautifully.