Seifried Nelson Chardonnay 2011 - Cellar Release

Silver - International Wine and Spirits Competition, 2012 UK
Silver - New World Wine Awards, 2012, NZ
Silver - Spiegelau International Wine Competition, 2012
Silver - Spiegelau International Wine Competition, 2013
Silver - New Zealand International Wine Show 2013

Vineyard: Seifried Rabbit Island Vineyard
Sugar at Harvest: 23.9°Brix
Date of Harvest: Early April 2011
pH of Wine: 3.46
T.A of Wine: 5.7g/L

The fruit is predominantly from the Rabbit Island vineyards which are situated on a wide river flat. The soil is gravelly sandy loam, which marks the sites of Māori kūmara beds (sweet potato) prior to European settlement in the early 1800’s. 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. These vineyards are about 1.5 km from the sea, which helps moderate temperatures.

The “hen and chicken” berries of the Mendoza clone of Chardonnay give full tropical flavours. The grapes for this Chardonnay were grown adjacent to the winery. The fruit was harvested and brought to the winery where it was immediately pressed and cooled for a 24 hour settling period. Following this, the juice was racked and warmed before inoculation. Once the ferment was active it was gravity fed into one year old French and American barriques. The wine completed primary fermentation in oak before then undergoing malolactic fermentation. During fermentation, the barrels were hand stirred regularly to build palate weight and structure. Following this, the wine was left sitting on lees for a further ten months before being racked from barrique, blended and prepared for bottling.