Pale lemon yellow in the glass with a juicy, vibrant nose of nectarine, chamomile, nougat, straw, and preserved lemon. Bright, zesty acidity and a mouth-watering salinity lead into the ripe, concentrated palate. As savoury as it is sweet-fruited – and although red apple, grapefruit and apricot, with a little spice, show up in layers mid-palate, this is balanced with green olive, fennel and jalapeno. Steely, fresh and piquant with minimal oak influence. The skin contact element in the winemaking takes it towards ‘natural wine’ territory with (fruit) tannins, green tea and autolysis characters towards the finish. 91pts.
Not your run-of-the-mill New Zealand Chardonnay here – a tasty, intriguing wine with quite a bit of personality.
