'Our CHABLIS come from parcels situated beside the village of FONTENAY-Près-CHABLIS, at the very heart of Chablis’ vineyards. On high plains or steep hills, all our Chablis grow on stony soils (Kimmeridgien Limestone) which allow a moderate production. Most of our vineyards are between 15 and 25 years old. Some parcels were planted by Gilles’ great grandfather, Marcel, around 1950/1960. Our Chablis are fresh and fruity (white flesh fruits, like peach and pear, with citrus notes), and already showing good minerality.''Grape 100% Chardonnay Food match oysters, shell fish and grilled fish, but also with traditional Burgundy recipes such as “jambom persillé” (ham with parsley)

100% ovum, first use. Skeetfield fruit, unfined and unfiltered. Beautiful nose with subtly mealy citrus fruit. The palate has beautiful texture and finesse. There’s a bright, lively citrus core with fine-grained structure. Such precision and detail with some spicy, mealy richness. There’s amazing intensity and balance here. There are layers of flavour, with lemons, saline notes, and some grapefruit notes. This is profound. Tony Bish says egg Chardonnays don’t need to age as long before release, and may not live as long as barrique aged ones, but can deliver profundity.

In the vineyard :
Surface: 1,57 Ha

Exposure: Lower slopes/Multiple exposures

Soil Type: Clay/Limestone

Grape variety: Chardonnay

Size Mode: Single Guyot /Poussard

Growing method: FR-BIO-01 organic certified

Soil cultivation: Straddle ploughing

Harvest: Manual

Year of planting: 1960/1976/1982/1986/2012

Hand harvested and lightly oaked Chardonnay from Martinborough with floral touches intermingling with pineapple, honey nougat, citrus and baked cheesecake on the nose. The palate is fresh with superb acidity and creamy spiced sweetness.

Fresh, delicate aromas of almond, stone fruit with a hint of old oak. Cirrus is the rounder of the two Chardonnays with lovely ripe, textural tropical stone fruits wrapped with moreish, mouth-filling phenolics.

The aim for this Chardonnay is to retain a fresh structure with a complex palate. It is the vineyards, wild-ferment and barrel characters that make up the complex nose and palate.

This fruit comes from three vineyards; the Taylor Vineyard, which is in the Rapaura area, the Twin Valleys vineyard, which we have been working with since 2003 and a ten rows of Clone 1066 from the Mahi home block.

All of the vines were intensively hand-tended, and the grapes hand-picked and then taken to the winery for whole-cluster pressing. The resulting juice went straight to French oak barrels and fermented with indigenous yeast from the fruit. After fermentation the wine sat on yeast lees for eleven months prior to blending and bottling.

VARIETY: Chardonnay
WINEGROWING TEAM: Brian Bicknell, Phoebe Cathcart, Max Bicknell, our focused growers and brilliant vintage staff
ALCOHOL: 13.6%
TITRATABLE ACIDITY: 6.9 g/L
RESIDUAL SUGAR: 0.35 g/L
BRIX AT HARVEST: 21.9 - 24.9
HARVEST: Hand-picked, 16 March - 4 April

Commercial description

The Drinking
Bright, fresh, varietal and attractive bouquet with a pure fruit core of white fleshed stone fruits then citrus, some floral notes then sweet oak. Nice weight and texture from occasional barrel stirring and a mix of seasoned and new oak, hazel nut, with some macadamia and vanilla in the background. Fine dusty wood tannins keep the texture flowing while acidity and alcohol carry flavour through to a lengthy finish.
— Cameron Douglas, Master Sommelier (The Shout Magazine, Sept 2021)

The Growing
This was a hot and dry vintage with almost zero rain right through summer. Dry farming practices since planting day, along with being herbicide free under vine, has encouraged the vine roots to grow deep into the sandy Esk River loam in search of water and nutrients, giving a more expressive wine with intensely flavoured smaller berries. A 70/30 mix of two clones; 548 and 95, this wine will only improve with careful cellaring for another 6+ years.

The Making
Hand picked grapes were gently whole bunch pressed before some of the juice was pumped direct from the juice tray into barrels and the rest was settled over night. It was then transferred into a mix of 20% new and seasoned French barriques and hogsheads and fermented with indigenous yeast. Post primary ferment, barrel stirring commenced every so often, to keep the yeast in suspension, adding a layer of complexity and imparting some yeasty goodness. The wine was barrel aged on lees for 11 months and malolactic fermentation happened naturally, with no fining and minimal sulphur added prior to bottling.

Kin by Te Kano is a quintessential expression of Central Otago Chardonnay. Made with sustainably farmed grapes from our Estate vineyards, Kin references the family ownership and Kowhai regeneration project that stand at the heart of our philosophy and provides an easy-drinking and delicious introduction into the Te Kano range.

The fruit for the Rosso & Bianco Chardonnay is picked based on flavor ripeness and acidity. It is then harvested in the cool of night and then delivered to the winery to be pressed into fermentation tanks. The juice is fermented in 100% stainless steel tanks to preserve the fruit’s flavors and aromas.

Rosso & Bianco Chardonnay offers the light, crisp character of freshly picked fruit. By fermenting in stainless steel rather than oak, the varietal’s fragrance is presented in its natural state, uninfluenced by wood or the spice notes that barrels create. 100% fermented and aged in stainless steel.

Food Pairing: This technique gives the wine a lighter texture, making it food friendly and delicious when paired with shellfish, mild semi-soft cheeses, and desserts.

From the winery:

"The 2020 single vineyard, barrel fermented Chardonnay offers sophisticated soft wine with restrained flavours of grapefruit, melon and a subtle blend of nut, spicy oak and lees characters.

Barrel fermented and Barrel aged in new and older French oak add complexity and texture."

A floral Chardonnay that displays lanolin, flintiness and stone fruit aromas on the nose. The palate is creamily textured and full bodied with ripe nectarine-like fruit, underlying notes of toasted cashew nuts, sourdough bread and cinnamon quills - ending with a clean and crisp finish and a lovely persistent and savoury toastiness.

Luta 2022 Chardonnay from Echo vineyard in Weka Road, made from Clones 15, 95 & Mendoza grown in Moutere Clay soils.

The Grapes were whole bunch pressed & aged in 500L 5-7 year old oak puncheons on the lees for 10 months.

Lemon rind, Brioche & Yoghurt on the nose.

Lemon rind fruit up front into brioche & Oats on the midpalate then a delicate minerality into the finish.

A very elegant wine with great texture.

This is a rich style of Chardonnay with the accent on strong fruit flavours. Ripe melon, nectarine and summer peach aromas abound with oak hints of cedar and spice and a long, full, yet soft finish. ideal matched with creamy pasta and white meat dishes. It is also delicious with seafood.

Vineyard
This Chardonnay is a mix of the Mendoza clone and Clone15 from the Bridge Pa and Crownthorpe areas in the Hawke’s Bay. Free-draining stony silty loams are the predominate soil type in this area. The crop was kept low and well exposed to ensure good even ripening and flavour development.

Winemaking
This Chardonnay was cool fermented with both aromatic and Burgundy style yeasts in barrels and stainless steel tanks. Once fermentation was completed, the wine was left for an extended period on yeast lees to promote textural qualities and mouthfeel. A portion of the wine went through Malolactic fermentation to soften acidity and add warm buttery notes.The wine exhibits pineapple and grapefruit flavours with a rich mealy texture.