Te Whare Ra Marlborough Chardonnay 2021

Description

Almond, Grapefruit, Oak

"Fantastic nose and palate with a clearly defined bouquet of ripe stone fruits and barrel spices laced with lees ageing and a naturally higher acid line to frame these ideas and attributes. A satin-smooth texture touches the palate first them flavours of peach and apple, some grapefruit and lemon then baking spice and soft smoky barrel qualities. A mix of fruit and wood tannins layer in mouthfeel and length across the palate keeping the core fruits front and centre surrounded by texture and complexity. Delicious and ready to drink from day of purchase through 2029" Cameron Douglas, Master Sommelier

"Ripe, fleshy chardonnay with white peach, struck flint, oyster shell, hazelnut and subtle spicy oak flavours. The product of a favourable vintage and ‘hands off’ winemaking. Appealing wine with energy and restrained power" Bob Campbell, Master of Wine, The Real Review

Lifted aromas of pink grapefruit, toasted almond, and white nectarine are complemented by some lovely savoury notes, with some white florals and hints of spice. These aromas follow on to complex, fleshy palate with real depth of flavour including grapefruit, and ripe stone-fruit as well as some savoury, mineral notes. Well integrated oak and a lingering, ripe acidity complete this wine.

The growing conditions here in Marlborough, mean that it is well-suited for the production of world class Chardonnay. We have a relatively cool climate which results in a long, even growing season which is great for flavour development. This means that we can make a style of Chardonnay which balances concentration and complexity, whilst retaining the finesse that a higher natural acidity brings – which is unashamedly the style we like to drink! 

This 2021 release is a blend from two certified organic vineyards – our TWR home block here at the winery, and The Wrekin Vineyard at the top of the Brancott Valley. We have the Mendoza clone of Chardonnay here on the home block plus a small amount of Clone 6 and the vines are now 40+ years old. We were very excited to be able to procure some organic certified fruit from The Wrekin (Clone B95) as we have seen the exceptional quality that this vineyard has produced in the past. The wine is made using traditional techniques.

The summer of 2021 was warm, dry and very even with no big heat spikes to push the ripening along too fast. We did not get the issues with extreme drought like we had in 2019 - so with a couple of timely rains, plus the more gentle summer conditions, that meant we had the first fruit coming into the winery late February (officially earliest ever start to harvest here!) and then we were all done by the end of March. The resultant wines have great depth of flavour and fleshiness with lovely purity of fruit, bright aromatics and ripe, juicy acidity.  This 2021 Chardonnay is drinking well now but we are consciously making a style that will benefit from some bottle age, so it will also develop with careful cellaring for 4-6 years. 

All fruit for this wine was hand-picked and then hand-sorted. The grapes were destemmed, crushed then gently air bag pressed, soft pressings were included with the free run juice. Juice was run to tank for settling overnight and then filled to oak with light solids the next morning. All the parcels for this 2021 release were fermented in large format French oak demi-muids (25% new). All parcels spent a long time on full lees to provide added texture and complexity. All parcels underwent MLF and were in barrel for 9 months before final blending. This wine has not been fined and is suitable for vegans and vegetarians and anyone else who loves authentic, hand-made wines.