Sileni Reserve Oaked Hawke's Bay Chardonnay 2019

Description

• French oak
• Stonefruit
• Buttery
• Balanced acidity

"Wonderfully ripe and delightfully complex, the wine shows grilled peach, rockmelon, vanillin oak and popcorn notes on the nose, followed by a succulent palate offering creamy mouthfeel and soothing texture. Beautifully rounded and flavoursome. At its best: now to 2024" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, Sep 2021

Intense aromatics of stone fruit and citrus with beautiful oak and buttery characters. These flow onto a palate that is rich and concentrated with a balanced acidity and long finish.

The fruit for this Reserve Chardonnay were grown mainly in the warm growing conditions of the Bridge Pa Triangle, with a minor component coming from their cooler Mangatahi site. This results in wines that are quite different; tropical and stone fruit characters and rounded palate from the warm site compared with a more citrus, fresher style from their cooler site. This allowed them to blend a wine that has both complexity, interest and layers of flavour.

The grapes were carefully harvested and the juice clarified before going through fermentation in stainless steel tank. The wine was then put through a partial malolactic ferment and underwent a period of oak ageing. At completion of fermentation the wine was aged for a short time on yeast lees with periodic stirring.

In ancient Greece the Sileni were companions of Dionysus, the god of wine, vineyards and theatre. When there was something to be celebrated, the Sileni were always on hand to encourage enjoyment of delicious food, great wine and social interaction. Named in their honour, Sileni Estates produces a range of wines made to be great collaborators, with a talent for enhancing flavours and textures.