Kina Beach Reserve Chardonnay 2016

A melange of fruit and spice – ripe pear, apricots underpinned with wood spice. Round, mouth filling and flowing with a refreshing finish. The wine is clean, linear and focused. Trajectory across the palate is lengthy showcasing the seamless integration between fruit and oak that has become a hallmark across the Kina Beach Vineyard Reserve Chardonnay vintages.

The vines sit on a north facing aspect amongst all day sunshine and afternoon sea breezes. The temperate climate and Moutere clay gravels along with a rich top soil and low rainfall create a unique maritime terroir for growing premium grapes. Vines are pruned to two canes on a VSP trellis system with no irrigation. Ripening is encouraged with an extensive canopy management regime all done by hand.

The growing season 2016 has been a very demanding one. The weather had a huge influence this year, and not in the nice, hot, dry El Niño way that we were all anticipating earlier in that season. Viticultural skills were pushed to the maximum to manage the weather impact as much as possible focusing on canopy health and requiring a hands-on approach to ensuring fruit quality. We managed to harvest a low level of crop not compromising on the fruit quality and relied on the capabilities of our winemaker to create a quality Reserve Chardonnay.

The two clones of Mendoza (17%) and 15 (83%) were hand harvested and whole bunched pressed separately on gentle press cycles to retain fruit quality, flavour and aromas. After settling the juice was transferred to French oak barrels (20% new) where primary and secondary fermentation have happened naturally. Occasional lees stirring further enhanced characters and complexity, moderate battonage, no fining.

Released on 27 October 2020 and will reward further cellaring of 5 years and longer.