Seresin Estate Marlborough Chardonnay 2018

Description

• Subtle oak
• Creamy & complex
• Fleshy stone fruits
• Brioche

"This stylish, BioGro-certified wine is designed to ‘focus on the textural element of the palate rather than emphasising primary fruit characters’. It is typically a full-bodied and complex wine with a good mouthfeel, ripe melon/citrus characters shining through, subtle toasty oak and fresh acidity. The 2018 vintage was estate-grown. In the Raupo Creek Vineyard, in the Omaka Valley, hand-piacked, and the majority of the blend (75 per cent) was fermented with indigenous yeasts and lees-aged for 10 months in French oak puncheons (10 per cent new)" Michael Cooper, NZ Wines Buyers Guide, 2021

Presenting a gorgeous bright golden hue, this Chardonnay screams elegance and texture. The nose is lifted with notes of fleshy stone fruits laced with brioche, and the palate is layered, creamy and complex yet still elegant, and is framed with focused acidity.

Sourced from the winemakers clay rich Raupo vineyard, in the centre of the Omaka Valley. This vineyard has a gentle northwest facing aspect and enjoys high sunshine hours and minimal rain. The vineyard is farmed following organic and biodynamic principles.

2018 will be remembered as being rather unusual for Marlborough, with a run of wet conditions following a period of warm weather. Fortunately these vineyards all fared well, with low yields and careful management ensuring a large proportion was harvested by the end of March. Above all, we will remember this vintage for its fast and furious nature – blink and you nearly missed it! However the resulting wines are showing a great deal of poise, elegance and subtlety. We are beyond excited to nurture them into the bottle and bring them to market.

Certified organic grapes were selectively harvested by hand at the beginning of April, with only the clean bunches being picked. The fruit was loaded in to the press, then gently whole bunched pressed. The different batches were cold settled for 24 – 72 hours, then racked to barrels and puncheons, taking the fine lees. The juice was left to commence fermentation naturally. After 10 months on lees, the batches were blended and filtered prior to bottling. The final blend comprised of 10% new (all puncheons) and the balance 2nd, 3rd and neutral puncheons.