2023 Whitehaven Greg Chardonnay - inaugural release
$60.00
TASTING NOTE
Colour / Appearance: Bright, mid straw, yellow.
Aroma / Bouquet: Ripe peach and citrus, with complexing savoury and smoky undertones.
Palate: Rich, dry and elegant, with lovely impact and texture. The wine possesses a strong spine of fleshy ripe stone fruit and layers of toasty hazelnuts, creamy yeast lees characters and savoury, smoky, flint-like elements. The wine has excellent length and flavour persistence.
Cellaring: We recommend drinking our 2023 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: Room temperature.
The ‘Greg’ range is dedicated to the memory of our founder Greg White, 1952-2007 and epitomises regional and varietal expression. This is the inaugural release of Whitehaven's Greg Single Vineyard Chardonnay, released to celebrate Whitehaven's 30th year. Only 120 cases produced.
WINE ANALYSIS
Alcohol: 14.5
Residual Sugar: <1.0 g/L
Titratable Acidity: 6.52 g/L
pH: 3.43
VITICULTURE
Harvest Date: 4th April 2023.
Varieties: 100% Chardonnay.
Grape Growers: The MacLauchlan family, Balvonie Vineyard.
Climate: Similar to the previous season, the 2022-23 growing season started with soil moisture at capacity following a wet winter. Flowering conditions in November and December were not even across Marlborough with some sub-regions achieving a good fruit set and crop load and others below average set. Vigilance around disease pressure was paramount, with regular rain events through the season and unusual humidity and warm nights through much of December and January. Day time temperatures were not warm, delaying the vine’s physiological advancement. Marlborough breathed a sigh of relief as cyclone Gabrielle minimally impacted the region in February, while sadly wreaking havoc through much of the North Island. The season turned a corner for Marlborough in early March with a return to cool nights and sunnier conditions allowing us to delay harvest for as long as possible, resulting in fruit that reached good sugar levels with attractive flavours, while disease levels remained at low manageable levels.
Grape Growing: Fruit for the Greg Chardonnay is sourced from Balvonie Vineyard (formerly known as Rothay). Located in the heart of Marlborough’s Rapaura district, Balvonie Vineyard is a multi-generational property owned by the MacLauchlan family, who have had a connection with Whitehaven dating back to the late 1990s. The block of Mendoza clone Chardonnay was planted in 1995, on a stony, free-draining site with fertile topsoil deposited over millennia due to the site’s close proximity to the Wairau river. The combination of this soil profile and the naturally small berries and low yields of the Mendoza clone allow the vines to ripen small, golden bunches of intensely flavoured fruit.
WINEMAKING
Winemaking: The fruit was hand-picked and whole bunch pressed with only free run juice considered for this wine. The juice was lightly settled before being racked and inoculated with selected yeast in stainless steel vessels. Halfway through fermentation, the wine was transferred from tank to French oak puncheons (40% new). The wine underwent full malolactic fermentation and was aged on light lees with occasional lees stirring for 16 months, adding layers of texture, creaminess, and body weight. In order to retain maximum expression, flavour and mouthfeel, the wine has been bottled without fining nor filtration. As a result, a small sediment may develop which is perfectly natural and harmless. Certified Appellation Marlborough Wine, and Vegan Friendly.
ACCOLADES
