$39.00
Vineyard: Seifried Rabbity Island Vineyard, Appleby
Date of Harvest: Mid March 2022
Sugar at Harvest: 23.2°Brix
pH of Wine: 3.41
T.A of Wine: 5.4g/L
Residual Sugar: dry <1g/L
Suitable for Vegetarians and Vegans
The fruit for the Aotea Nelson Chardonnay is from our Rabbit Island vineyards which are situated on a wide river flat. The soil is gravelly sandy loam, which marks the sites of Maori kumara (sweet potato) beds 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 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.
The ‘hen and chicken’ berries of the Mendoza clone of Chardonnay give full tropical flavours. 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 to new, one and two year old French barriques. The wine completed primary alcohol fermentation in oak before undergoing malolactic fermentation. During these alcoholic fermentations the barrels were hand stirred periodically to build palate weight and structure. Following this the wine was left sitting on its yeast lees for a further 10 months before being racked from barrique and prepared for bottling.
The 2022 Aotea by the Seifried family Nelson Chardonnay has a lovely nutty, toasty nose with layers of ripe succulent summer peach. The palate is generous with layers of spice, toast and fruit intertwined. Lovely lingering flavours persist on the palate.