Home > Wine by Region > Hawkes Bay > Swamp Reserve Chardonnay 2018

Swamp Reserve Chardonnay 2018

NZ $38.00 incl GST

Double 5 Star release of one of NZ's classic wines.

SKU 00918

Category Reserve Wines, Hawkes Bay, Chardonnay and Blends

Description

Winemakers Notes

In 2018, we made two, very careful, hand pick passes through our Swamp Reserve block. Mother nature was not kind to us in 2018, but, the vineyard team worked tirelessly to ensure that the fruit they harvested was pristine. It worked! In the face of adversity, we harvested some of the best fruit we have seen from this block. The juices went off to French oak (around 30% new) for fermentation and MLF. The malos were very fast in 2018 and were all done by the start of May. The wines then stayed in barrel, on lees, until 27th February 2019. Our 2018 Swamp Reserve Chardonnay was bottled on 16th May 2019.

Analysis

Alc	13%
Acid	6.8 g/L
Res sugar	2.0g/L
pH	3.45

Tasting Notes

Colour:	Pale in the glass as a young wine, but will develop pale gold tints with time in the bottle.
Bouquet:	Year after year the fruit from this vineyard exhibits ripe lemon and grapefruit characters. This is interwoven with subtle oak and lees and MLF derived creaminess.
Palate:	Harmony and balance have become two of the hallmarks of our Swamp Reserve style. This wine has fineness and structure, yet is also incredibly complex and long.

Cellaring
Our Reserve Chardonnays drink beautifully after about 12 to 18 months, and then cellar out to around five years in the correct environment.

Food Matches
Full flavoured chardonnays are great food wines, especially richly flavoured meat dishes such as lamb, pork and duck, and seafood - crayfish, salmon and trout. Accompanying sauces could include citrus, apple, nuts, mushrooms and aromatic herbs.

Independent Reviewer's Comment

“This classy, harmonious wine was estate-grown in the Havelock North hills and fermented and matured for 10 months in French oak casks (30% new). Full-bodied, it has concentrated, peachy, slightly spicy flavours, gentle biscuity and smoky notes adding complexity, and a very finely balanced, lasting finish. Best drinking 2022+” Michael Cooper.

Suggested Wine List Description
Full, rich and complex white wine, with delicious sweet fruit flavours, well balanced with nut and oak tones and great length of flavour.

Awards