A minor sub-theme on WineFolio for the next week will be ‘100-point’ New Zealand wines – as I convened a tasting night on the theme this week. This was the wine that elicited a first 100/100 score from Master of Wine, Bob Campbell. I have tasted this wine a few times over the years – including a couple of years ago > www.winefolio.co.nz/?p=10688, and visited the winery last year > www.winefolio.co.nz/?p=12591.
A medium-depth straw-gold colour in the glass – starting to show its age. The perfume also reveals the wine entering its ‘golden age’ where freshness recedes and the fruit deepens in tone. Tropical and stone fruit, quince and a touch of lime linger with caramelised cashews and jasmine florals on the nose. Well-balanced and integrated through the palate, with oak, phenolic, fruit and acidity in tandem. The signature minerality still shows, with a drying chalkiness appearing at the back of the palate, leading to a pithy finish with moderate length. 94pts
Hi
I have one more bottle of this wine. Do you recommend drinking it now? I was thinking of holding on a bit longer but do like a wine while it still has it’s ‘freshness’. Thanks
It is easy to think of something with a date of 2014 as ‘not that old’… but it is 12 years old, which, for NZ Chardonnay, is quite old. Personally, I thought the bottle reviewed was perhaps just past its best. My advice is drink up.