Waipara Hills Waipara Valley Chardonnay 2011

COLOUR

Pale yellow.

NOSE

Crisp stone fruit and pineapple fruit flavours with smooth creamy, slighly buttery notes.

PALATE

Following on from the promise of the nose, the palate is all stone fruit and pineapple, balanced with a rich creamy note. Dry, crisp yet with an underlying texture to balance the acidty.

SERVE

Lighly chilled.

PEAK DRINKING

This wine will develop with patience and time, peak drinking 2012-2015

SUGGESTED FOOD MATCH

Peppery salmon pilaf.

ALCOHOL VOLUME

13.5

ACIDITY

6.6

RESIDUAL SUGAR

0.1

VINTAGE REGION

100% sourced from The Home Block Vineyard in the Waipara Valley.

VINTAGE CONDITIONS

Bud break this year was late September early October followed by a settled and warm spring without any frost set backs. The plants enjoyed good growth. We went into an early flower set, the earlist on our records and alos one of the best. The summer and ripening season were dry and cool. Through the growing season we had 230mm of rain, the hottest month being December with an average temperature of 18 degrees Celsius.

GRAPE VARIETY

100% Chardonnay

MATURATION

Once pressd the juice was cold settled for two days, then racked and warmed before going into fermentation in both oak barrels and tanks. Fermentation took avout three weeks, after which the wine was left in full casks and tanks for two months for flavour development. One tank started MLF and was stopped when the flavours were balanced for the blend.