2021 Whitehaven Marlborough Chardonnay
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TASTING NOTE
Colour / Appearance: Mid straw with a bright clarity.
Aroma / Bouquet: A rich combination of grilled pineapple and stone fruit with secondary mealy, buttery, toasted hazelnut and flinty, mineral nuances.
Palate: A rich, full-bodied wine, with roundness, and a lingering finish. The flavours of meal and stone fruit dominate, balanced with savoury, spice and char from the oak.
Cellaring: We recommend drinking our 2021 Chardonnay in the first 4-6 years after the vintage, but the wine has the structure and closure to allow continued development with careful cellaring.
Food Match: Our Chardonnay is a food-friendly wine. A perfect match for Mediterranean food, pork, chicken, and creamy mushroom pasta.
Serve: Lightly chilled.
WINE ANALYSIS
Alcohol: 14%
Residual Sugar: 1.35 g/L
Titratable Acidity: 5.89 g/L
pH: 3.37
VITICULTURE
Harvest Date: 16th – 24th March 2021
Vineyards:
Rothay, Wratts Road, Rapaura -70%
Whitehaven - Pauls Road, Renwick - 21%
Whitehaven - Tussocks, Awatere valley - 9%
Climate: 2021 will be remembered as a season of two halves. The early part of the growing season was marked by two severe frost burn events which affected much of the region to varying degrees. This was followed by variable cool and wet weather through flowering, resulting in fewer berries setting per bunch, further reducing crops after the frost damage. Post-Christmas however, we could not have asked for a better season. The weather remained warm, but not hot, and we had beautiful diurnal shift leading into harvest, retaining freshness and energy in the fruit, and providing the perfect conditions for flavour development. With the light crops, harvest was underway earlier than usual, and it was only in the final days of the harvest that we encountered some wet weather events that the winery was easily able to work around.
VINIFICATION
Winemaking: The fruit was hand-picked and immediately whole cluster pressed. The heavy pressings were kept separate to minimise harsh phenolics. The juice was lightly settled before being racked and inoculated for fermentation. Halfway through fermentation, the wine was transferred to French oak of which 20% new and predominantly 500L puncheons. Malo-lactic fermentation was carried out in all the barrels. Lees aged for 10 months to aid texture and richness on the palate.
Appellation Marlborough Wine accredited.
ACCOLADES
- Fresh and fleshy yet still very youthful, this wine is a full-bodied and robust style of chardonnay showing bold fruit and bold oak which together make a strong statement. Peaches and nectarine flavours abound with roasted nuts and creamy dairy characters on the textured palate. Cuisine Magazine, Chardonnay Tasting 2022, 4 stars (Very Good).
- 2022 Cameron Douglas, MS: 92 Points
