Giesen The Fuder Clayvin Single Vineyard Chardonnay 2014
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Robert
Parker
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The journey of each Single Vineyard wine starts in a Marlborough vineyard selected for its unique terroir and climate. They are then nurtured with meticulous hands-on viticulture to ensure fruit produces highly concentrated flavor. Our winemaking expertise then allows these wines to speak for themselves, their purity becoming a showcase of the land.
Established in 1993, Clayvin Vineyard was Marlborough’s first significant hillside vineyard. North facing, the vineyard planting is high density. This density creates natural competition among the vines, reducing vigor, promoting root structure and intensity of flavor. It also means that the vineyard only produces ‘one bottle of Clayvin Chardonnay per vine’.
This is an intense and complex Chardonnay offering ripe peaches, honey and cashews with brioche nuance. It shares its terroir with both savory and mineral flavor. On the palate it has a satiny texture which is complemented by a lively acid backbone, its finishing with lingering honey notes.
World renowned vineyard ‘Clayvin’ has historically set the standard for premium Chardonnay and Pinot Noir production from Marlborough.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The fuder-fermented, all-Mendoza 2014 The Fuder Clayvin Vineyard Chardonnay is toasty, nutty and lush, with opulent layers of peach and pineapple fruit. It's medium to full-bodied, with a creamy texture on the mid-palate yet with a bright core of acidity that lingers in citrusy fashion on the finish.
Other Vintages
2015-
James
Suckling
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Robert
Parker
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Wilfred
Wong -
James
Suckling -
Tasting
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From the Estate Range to the Single Vineyard Series, Giesen delivers stylish wines that showcase the riches of Marlborough.
Proudly family-owned by three brothers Theo, Alex and Marcel since 1981. Originally from Germany, today the Giesen brothers are the proprietors of 13 vineyards located throughout the highly sought after Wairau Valley, a subregion of Marlborough. The vineyards spread across the length & breadth of the valley giving a range of grape growing conditions and flavor. 20% of Giesen vineyards are certified organic or in transition.
The Giesens are the leading buyers of German 1,000 liter Fuder barrels in New Zealand. The Fuders are coveted in winemaking for the lees influence (due to large dimension across the bottom of the barrel) as well as the lighter oak toasting – which provides an aromatic sweetness. Giesen is known and respected for showcasing Marborough’s unique vineyard and vintage characteristics and to delivering superb vine-to-bottle quality across the range
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
An icon and leading region of New Zealand's distinctive style of Sauvignon blanc, Marlborough has a unique terroir, making it ideal for high quality grape production (of many varieties). Despite some common generalizations, which could be fairly justified given that Marlborough is responsible for 90% of New Zealand's Sauvignon blanc production, the wines from this region are actually anything but homogenous. At the northern tip of New Zealand’s South Island, the vineyards of Marlborough benefit from well-draining, stony soils, a dry, sunny climate and wide temperature fluctuations between day and night, a phenomenon that supports a perfect balance between berry ripeness and acidity.
The region’s king variety, Sauvignon blanc, is beloved for its pungent, aromatic character with notes of exotic tropical fruit, freshly cut grass and green bell pepper along with a refreshing streak of stony minerality. These wines are made in a wide range of styles, and winemakers take advantage of various clones, vineyard sites, fermentation styles, lees-stirring and aging regimens to differentiate their bottlings, one from one another.
Also produced successfully here are fruit-forward Pinot noirs (especially where soils are clay-rich), elegant Riesling, Pinot gris and Gewürztraminer.