Pyramid Valley Marlborough Chardonnay 2017

Pyramid Valley Marlborough Chardonnay 2017"Intensely flavoursome Chardonnay with apple, grapefruit, white peach, apricot fruit flavours, together with biscuit, cashew nut and spicy oak characters. A bold, assertive wine that should develop well with a little bottle age" Bob Campbell, Master of Wine, Real Review, Mar 2019 "Varietal, fruity, familiar and fresh fruited bouquet. Aromas of wood before fruit, apple before spice, peach before flowers. Dry, weighty and full of fruit, wood and wild

"Intensely flavoursome Chardonnay with apple, grapefruit, white peach, apricot fruit flavours, together with biscuit, cashew nut and spicy oak characters. A bold, assertive wine that should develop well with a little bottle age" Bob Campbell, Master of Wine, Real Review, Mar 2019

"Varietal, fruity, familiar and fresh fruited bouquet. Aromas of wood before fruit, apple before spice, peach before flowers. Dry, weighty and full of fruit, wood and wild ferment flavours – flowers and flint, leesy spice and very fine tannins. Balanced, fresh, building complexity, loads of texture and well made. Drink now and through 2024" Cameron Douglas, Master Sommelier

"Well worth cellaring, the debut 2017 vintage was hand-harvested from mature vines at Dog Point Vineyard, in the Southern Valleys, and fermented and matured in seasoned French oak demi-muids. Bright, light yellow/green, it is fragrant, mouthfilling and crisp, with concentrated, peachy, citrusy flavours, firm acid spine, gentle toasty notes adding complexity and a dry, tightly structured finish. Still very youthful, it should be at its best 2021+" Michael Cooper

Brilliant, pale gold. Enticing aromas of buttered popcorn, lime skin, peach and nectarine with undertones of cream of soda, warm straw and brioche. A warm rich entry to the palate with stone fruit flavours balance by limey acidity and a salty, saline texture. Almost Chablis in style evident by the full malo-lactic and lees aromas with a creamy yet focused palate with lively acidity that gives drinkability and ageability. Consistency of style of this wine every year confirms this wine has a strong sense of origin and speaks of the vineyard, the vines and the natural yeast of this vineyard.

The venerable Chardonnay vines in this important and historic site, were planted by Ivan and Margaret Sutherland in 1983 in a cool, strong-soiled vineyard on Dog Point Road. Their wide, twisted trunks bear witness to decades of good management, now in the gifted hands of Nigel Sowman, Viticulturalist for Dog Point Vineyard. Clay-bound gravels proffer both volume and aromatic lift, and the Mendoza clone conspires to provide tiny berries, thus high dry extract. A cooler vintage meaning the grapes had a long hang time resulting in a wine with intense aromas and flavours. 10.5 hl/ha from a 1.7-hectare parcel, extremely low yields resulted in a very concentrated wine. Hand-picked, whole bunch pressed, no settling; indigenous primary and malolactic fermentations. Raised in 450-600L demi-muids, all French. Bottled unfined in August 2018.