Waipara Hills Waipara Valley Chardonnay 2019

Description

• Unoaked
• White peach
• Subtle toasted almond
• Nectarine

Pale straw colour in the glass. Lifted nectarine and white peach aromas with a hint of toasted almond. Luscious stonefruit flavours complement the textured mid-palate and crisp finish.

Sourced from the Waipara Valley Home Block Vineyard, which is a loam over free draining gravels site.

Due to cool conditions over the flowering season, overall yields of Chardonnay were down. However, the hot Summer and warm Autumn that followed ripened the fruit beautifully. These conditions continued through harvest ensuing the fruit was in pristine condition when picked.

Harvested in the early hours of the morning, the fruit was pressed immediately. No sulphur was added to soften the phenolics and encourage fruit intensity. The juice was left to settle until very clean, then racked, warmed and inoculated with specially selected yeasts to promote texture. Some juice was transferred to barrels to develop greater complexity, while the majority was transferred to tanks to maintain fruit brightness. After two months of malolactic fermentation, the tanks and barrels were topped and stirred for a further two months. In late Spring the wine was blended, fined using natural methods and finished for bottling.

Food Pairing: A versatile wine, pair with seafood, chicken or a decadent creamy pasta.