'Big & Buttery' SV Gisborne Chardonnay 2017

Winemakers Notes

In 2017 we used Delwyn and Doug Bell’s Clone 548 Chardonnay to craft the Big and Buttery. This is a dry-grown block in their vineyard on Back Ormond Road, just out of the city of Gisborne. The wine was fermented in American oak barrels (just over one third new). Once the primary fermentation was finished, all of the barrels then went through a secondary malolactic fermentation. This imbues the wine with buttery notes. The wine went into barrel on 21^st March 2017 and came out of barrel on 16^th January 2018 – so 11 months in oak.

Analysis

Alc	13.5%
Acid	6.8g/L
Res sugar	2.5g/L
pH	3.44

Tasting Notes

Colour:	Pale gold in the glass at bottling, but will slowly deepen with time.
Bouquet:	Stonefruit and melon backed by vanillary oak and a buttered pop-corn character from the MLF.
Palate:	Big, rich and weighty, yet with elegance and finesse.

Cellaring
Already approachable, but will cellar happily into the medium term in a cool environment.
 
Food Matches
The oak ageing makes this wine an excellent match with full flavoured rich dishes, in particular poultry, pork, salmon and crayfish.
           
Suggested Wine List Description
Cellar door (& on-line) only, won't be on any wine lists!

Independent Reviewer's Comments

 
Awards

Previous Vintage Tasting Notes - Download PDFs

2016