2008 HAY MAKeR
Gisborne Chardonnay

Straw yellow. Fresh, clean lemon-citrus and mango aromas with undertones of complex nougat and hay. The lemon-citrus flavours lead through to the delicate texture and a clean dry finish. Soon after Harvest the grapes were carefully crushed and pressed. The clarified juice was then inoculated with selected yeast. The closely monitored fermentation was undertaken in stainless tanks to maintain the fresh fruit characters. After fermentation the wine had a month on light lees before blending. Once blended the wine was clarified with natural methods before being prepared for bottling. The Chardonnay grapes for this wine came from Peter Briant’s Home Block and Paul Tietjens Golden Slopes Vineyard. The two sites are quite different as Peter Briant’s is in Patutahi on silt loams and Paul Tietjens is on the Golden Slopes planted on clay loams. The combination of the two sites give some excellent fruit purity and balance to this wine. After a literally shaky start to the growing season with an earthquake in December, the 2008 Gisborne vintage did offer a few challenges, but after an excellent long warm and dry ripening season with some rain at the end the fruit showed good flavour intensity. 100% Chardonnay This wine was fermented in 100% stainless steel to ensure the fresh fruit characters remain. Alc Vol: 13.00%     Acidity (TA): 6.1 g/l     Residual Sugar: 3.7 g/l 2008 - 2009 Creamy sundried tomato pasta salad. Lightly chilled.