Saint Clair James Sinclair Marlborough Chardonnay 2023

Description

Caramel, Cream, Oak

"This is immediately appealing on the nose, showing golden peach, rockmelon, toasty oak and vanilla characters. It's succulent and silky in the mouth, delivering excellent weight and persistency. Generously textured and lingering with delectable flavours. At its best: now to 2028" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, Jul 2024

"Medium-bodied, fruit-focused chardonnay with grapefruit/citrus, vanilla, oyster shell and cashew nut flavours. Moderately intense, refreshing wine with a lingering finish" Bob Campbell, Master of Wine, The Real Review, May 2024

Pale straw. Fragrant dried fig notes combined with caramel and a hint of spice. Intense, opulent and complex with an elegant structure and refined finish. The palate displays flavours of crème caramel and fresh dates layered with toasty oak. Drinking beautifully now, this wine will continue to evolve and gain complexity over at least the next five years.

Crafted using carefully selected Chardonnay grapes, predominantly from low yielding vineyards in Marlborough’s Wairau Valley. The grapes were pressed and the juice only briefly settled so that the fermentation contained some grape solids, addingcomplexity and texture in the resulting wine.The juice was inoculated with a selected yeast strain,then transferred to a mixture of seasonedAmerican and French oak barriques for fermentation and ageing. The wine underwent malolactic fermentation and was left on lees for three months with regular stirring, prior to ageing for a total of nine months. Barrels were hand selected for this blend,the wine removed from oak, filtered and bottled, with no fining or adjustments.

Food Pairing: A perfect match for crispy skinned tender baked chicken drumsticks.