Te Awanga Estate Trademark Hawke's Bay Chardonnay 2019

Te Awanga Estate Trademark Hawke's Bay Chardonnay 2019French oak White peach Lemon curd Silken texture "First bottle was oxidised with sherry like acetaldehyde characters. Second bottle was fine. Big, mellow wine with a silken textureit reminds me of chardonnay from California's Napa Valley. White peach, citrus, sizzled butter, spicy oak and a touch of oyster shell mineral characters. Stylish Chardonnay" Bob Campbell, Master of Wine, Real Review, Dec 2022 A wine made for cellaring, with future complexity

• French oak
• White peach
• Lemon curd
• Silken texture

"First bottle was oxidised with sherry-like acetaldehyde characters. Second bottle was fine. Big, mellow wine with a silken texture—it reminds me of chardonnay from California's Napa Valley. White peach, citrus, sizzled butter, spicy oak and a touch of oyster shell/mineral characters. Stylish Chardonnay" Bob Campbell, Master of Wine, Real Review, Dec 2022

A wine made for cellaring, with future complexity at its heart. Struck stone and flint on the nose with lemon curd, stone-fruit and a biscuit layered lees influence. The palate is initially tight but unfolds with time in the glass or cellar, and seamless with a persistent long finish.

Perfectly ripe fruit with a moderate acidity and an average of 22.5 brix produced a lusciously flavoured lemon, melon, nectarine all layered together. Planted on an 25 year old vineyard in Havelock North at the base of Te Mata Peak and grown carefully to extend hang time and allow a slow ripening before harvesting by hand. Whole bunches were pressed and the juice fed by gravity into French oak barriques for a natural wild ferment. The wine rested through the cool winter temperatures. We allowed a few of the barrels to warm up in Spring and complete a natural malolactic ferment before bottling in March 2020.