Seifried Nelson Chardonnay 2021

The 2021 Seifried Nelson Chardonnay is a very concentrated wine from the exceptionally light vintage 2021. Spring frost, poor December flowering and Boxing Day hail meant we had a tiny crop with outstanding fruit concentration. Citrus, summer stonefruit together with cinnamon stick spice and nutmeg come together building a tasty palate with gentle spice running the length.

Our Rabbit Island Vineyard is situated on a wide river flat. The soil is gravelly sandy loam, which is very sandy and free draining. These vineyards are about 1.5 kilometres from the sea, which helps moderate temperatures. Our Brightwater Vineyard is exceptionally stony with free draining soils, which is very hard on the farm equipment. The large stones however are vital for holding the warmth of the Nelson sun and for ripening the grapes. Lively fruit characters are evident in fruit harvested from this block.

The ‘hen and chicken’ berries of the Mendoza clone of Chardonnay used in this blend give full tropical flavours. The fruit was harvested, brought to the winery and pressed immediately then cooled for a 24 hour settling period. Following this, the juice was racked and warmed for inoculation. Primary alcoholic fermentation occurred in stainless steel tanks with the young wine then being gravity fed into one, two and three year old French barriques. The Chardonnay then underwent malolactic fermentation in spring 2021 in barrel. Barrels were hand stirred regularly to build palate weight and structure. The wine then sat on lees for a total of 15 months before being racked from barrique, blended and prepared for bottling.