A return to a WineFolio favourite – the 2018 vintage was the winning wine in our Top 10 tasting of New Zealand Chardonnays. The 2020 vintage is also now the Trophy winner for “Champion International Chardonnay” at the International Wine Challenge 2021.
A pale gold/green in the glass, with deliciously aromatic notes of yellow peach, lemon curd, flinty dry stone, hazelnut, nutmeg and toast. Well structured, with lots of oak, but a lively acidity that keeps the plush flavours swelling, and a creamy texture. Plenty of plush stone fruit, grapefruit, melon and fig flavours, but lots more going on here than just good juice. Weighty, with youthful exhuberance, intensity and tone. The oyster shell, briney, mineral returns again at the back, with a nice drying, pithy citrus element that adds another layer to an already compelling expression of Gimblett Gravels Chardonnay. Top stuff. 96pts
