Astrolabe Marlborough Chardonnay 2018

Aroma - Some ripe melon and dried stone fruits with vanilla and butter notes and a subtle mealiness.

Palate - A wine of very elegant texture with stone fruit, vanilla creaminess, pleasing weight and a long, dry and mineral finish.

Largely grown on a free-draining silty loam, with some on the tight clays of a steeply sloping hillside. Standard trellis with pruning to two canes and vertical shoot positioning. Vines are trimmed closely, well tucked, with minimal leaf plucking. Extensive fruit thinning enhances concentration of flavour.

The 2017-2018 growing season was the warmest since the first grapes were planted in Marlborough in 1973. Temperatures were 1.1 degrees over the long-term average. It was wetter than normal January through March and made tricky by three extended rain events. A dry period between late February and late March helped the grapes get through in reasonable condition, and the health of the canopies ensured good flavour development.

The fruit was hand-picked and whole-bunch pressed. Only the free-run juice was used, and this was fermented in French oak puncheons and barriques, using both select and wild yeast. Frequent bâtonnage, full malolactic fermentation and ten months’ barrel maturation have added to the texture and complexity. This wine is unfined.