Seifried Nelson Chardonnay 2013 - Cellar Release

Vineyard: Seifried Rabbit Island Vineyard
Sugar at Harvest: 23.8°Brix
Date of Harvest: Early April 2013
pH of Wine: 3.47
T.A of Wine: 6.4g/L
Residual Sugar of Wine: 2.1g/L

The Vineyard

The fruit is predominantly from the Rabbit Island vineyards which are situated on a wide river flat. The soil is gravelly sandy loam, which marks the sites of Maori kumara beds (sweet potato) prior to European settlement in the early 1800’s. The Maori transferred and spread fine gravel and sand over the land to provide suitable soils for their kumara plantings. Scrub was burned to give ash and charcoal, which increased soil fertility and gave characteristic topsoil. This fertility is now considerably reduced due to modern farming. The soils are however, very sandy and free draining. The water table is relatively high ensuring adequate underground water. These vineyards are about 1.5 kilometres from the sea, which helps moderate temperatures.
In addition, there is a smaller component of this blend with the fruit coming from our Redwood Valley vineyard.

Winemakers Note

The “hen and chicken” berries of the Mendoza clone of Chardonnay give full tropical flavours. The grapes for this Chardonnay were grown adjacent to the winery and also in our Redwood Valley vineyards which dates back to the 1980’s. The fruit was harvested and brought to the winery where it was immediately pressed and cooled for a 24 hour settling period. Following this, the juice was racked and warmed before inoculation. Once the ferment was active it was gravity fed into one year old French barriques. The wine completed primary fermentation in oak before then undergoing malolactic fermentation. During fermentation, the barrels were hand stirred regularly to build palate weight and structure. Following this, the wine was left sitting on lees for a further ten months before being racked from barrique, blended and prepared for bottling.

Tasting Note

The 2013 Seifried Chardonnay over delivers on all the elements we are after in a Chardonnay. Ripe stonefruit and a gentle background of blossom notes come through on the nose, and are further complimented by fresh bready cinnamon roll notes on the palate. Well proportioned nutty oak and phenolics create a flavoursome palate with a lingering impression.