Old Coach Road Nelson Chardonnay 2020

90 Points (4.5 Stars) - Wine Orbit, January 2023
4.5 Stars/Best Buy - Cuisine Magazine, August 2023, NZ

Vineyard: Seifried Brightwater and Rabbit Island vineyards
Sugar at Harvest: 23.6°Brix
Date of Harvest: Mid March 2020
pH of Wine: 3.45
T.A of Wine: 4.9g/L
Residual Sugar: 2g/L
Suitable for Vegetarians & Vegans: Yes

The Brightwater vines are grown in an extremely stony area of the vineyard where water and nutrient levels are low. This helps us to restrict plant vigour and to crop at low levels. Our Brightwater vineyard is situated 15 km from the coast and is sheltered from the south by the Richmond ranges. The ‘soil’ is a combination of rocks and boulders which is very hard on farm equipment but vital for holding the warmth of Nelson’s sun and for ripening the grapes.

Our Rabbit Island vineyard is situated on a wide river flat. The soil is made up of gravelly sandy loam, which marks the sites of Māori kūmara (sweet potato) beds prior to European settlement in the early 1800s. The Māori transferred and spread fine gravel and sand over the land to provide suitable soils for their kūmara plantings. Scrub was burned to give ash and charcoal, which increased soil fertility and gave characteristic topsoil. This fertility is now considerably reduced due to modern farming. The soils are, however, very sandy and free-draining. The water table is relatively high, ensuring adequate underground water.

Careful canopy management and leaf removal around the fruit zone allowed the sun to fully ripen the grapes. After picking, the grapes were transported to the winery where they were gently de-stemmed and pressed. The juice was settled and fermented at a cool temperature to retain fruit aromas. On completion of the primary fermentation, 70% of the wine was aged in French oak for over a year. Malolactic fermentation was then completed on 80% of the blend.