Description

The Marlborist Chardonnay is a rich, dry elegant wine that is both intricate and textural with an enticing combination of roasted hazelnuts, brioche and golden-flesh nectarine with hints of clove spice and vanilla. This is a finely balanced wine with a creamy palate underpinned by a long, citrus finish.

Fruit was sourced from three exceptional vineyards; The historic Auntsfield Estate in the Southern Valleys, home to Marlborough's first vineyard planted in 1873. The Wrekin in the Brancott Valley, a beautiful biodynamic and organic-certified hillside vineyard where Chardonnay is grown on clay loam soils, and Fairhall Vineyard on the southern side of the Wairau Valley, where old Mendoza clone Chardonnay vines are grown on stony, alluvial soils. The combination of free-draining soils and naturally low yields allowed the vines to ripen small, golden bunches of intensely flavoured fruit.

Most of the grapes were whole-bunch pressed to a mixture of French oak barrels and puncheons (30% new.) Spontaneous fermentation by indigenous, 'wild' yeast, took place at ambient temperatures.

Occasional lees stirring and a full malolactic fermentation occurred before the wine was transferred out of oak after 11 months. Each batch was left on lees and kept separate until June when the blend was assembled and settled prior to bottling in July.

"Fruity and delicious with apple puree and hints of pie crust with some vanilla cream as well as nice interplay between tangy and fresh acidity. Medium body. Drink now. Screw cap."
91 points. James Suckling, jamessuckling.com (January 2025)

"The 2023 Chardonnay is fragrant, light and floral, with green apple, a hint of kiwi fruit and feijoa, ocean spray and spring blossoms. On the palate, the wine is elegant and restrained, with finely tuck-pointed acidity and phenolics. The oak is a subtle structural and textural support rather than an overt feature. This wine is quiet, in its way, attractive and good. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap. Drink to 2030."
91 points. Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate (December 2024)