TASTING NOTES
Colour: Mid straw, with a gold hue and bright clarity.
Nose: White peach and nectarine fruit flavours, almond and cashew nut, with savoury oak char and mineral notes.
Palate: A medium bodied wine, with a soft palate and balanced acidity. The clean fruit and mineral flavours persist on the long, clean finish.
Cellaring: 1-5 years
Serve: Lightly chilled
Suggested Foods: Our chardonnay is a perfect match for Mediterranean food, poultry dishes and veal. However, the fruit weight and acid balance make it versatile with most cuisine.
Cheese Match: Try with Brie, Camembert, Gruyere or Parmesan.
VITICULTURE & WINEMAKING
Grapegrowers: Sea Level Vineyard
Locality: Coastal Highway, Mariri Nelson, New Zealand
Specifications:
Alcohol: 12.5%
Residual Sugar: 4.1g/L
pH: 3.22
Titratable Acidity: 6.2g/L
VITICULTURE
Climate: The season started with a very dry late winter and early spring. The temperatures were similar to the long term average, but varied greatly with a number of warm days followed by cold spells. Colder conditions over flowering resulted in average yields. In late December, the climate became very warm and dry, ideal conditions for ripening. The fruit was picked at optimum flavour levels, just before a period of heavy rain.
Soils: Gravel-threaded Moutere clay
Training: Standard vertical trellis
Harvest Date: 2017
WINEMAKING
The fruit was hand-picked and whole cluster pressed to minimise phenolics. After a light settling, the juice was fermented with a selected yeast strain. Half way through fermentation the ferment was transferred to French oak barrels, 25% of which were new. The wine was matured in barrel for 10 months, where in underwent a natural malo-lactic fermentation. This aided to the texture and softness of the wine.
