Winemaker Notes
Vivid aromas of pineapple, peach, apricot together with tropical fruit flow into the fresh elegant palate. Although youthful, the wine shows remarkable harmony of fruit and subtle oak maturation. The finish delivers length and lingering tropical fruit nuances.
Cellaring
This wine has been produced with soft delicacy and freshness for early consumption. Further aging to 2007 will provide more mature characters.
Food Match
A particularly good match with lemon and coriander chicken served with grilled stone fruits on saffron ice.
Winemakers Notes
The fruit for this fresh lively chardonnay was grown in the Gisborne region on the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand. The soils are fertile alluvial loams that are moderately vigorous and produce fruit with remarkable varietal characters. The crop from this 2003 vintage was small due to inclement weather at flowering and was mechanically harvested in clean fully matured condition. The vines are trained on a vertical shoot positioning trellis and had fruit band leaf removal at veraison to fully develop varietal flavours. Chardonnay clones used to produce this wine were Mendoza, UCD 6 and clone 15. Winemaking was focussed on a fruit driven style with some subtle oak barrel aging modification in seasoned barriques. The fruit was harvested in cool nighttime temperatures and membrane pressed to provide juice in prime condition after settling, ready for fermentation. Cultured yeast was used to emphasise the varietal freshness and delicacy desired. To maintain a soft appealing style the wine was aged on yeast lees for an extended period. Early bottling using resealable stelvin caps to avoid any flavour modification has produced an appealing chardonnay style.
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.
Occupying the North Island’s East Cape, Gisborne keeps The Bay of Plenty to its northwest and Hawkes Bay on its southwestern side. It is the country’s most distinctive producer of Chardonnay, with heavy investment here until Sauvignon blanc stole the country’s limelight. Gisborne produces soft and charming Chardonnay, boasting stone and tropical fruit flavors.
The region includes a good number of artisanal winemakers but many larger Auckland producers source from Gisborne for their own Chardonnay bottlings.