Catalina Sounds 'The Sound Of White' Marlborough Chardonnay 2017

Catalina Sounds 'The Sound Of White' Marlborough Chardonnay 2017The wine is concentrated with lifted honeysuckle, citrus and nectarine notes. The palate has a lovely creamy softness yet is still framed with a fine acid line and oak tannins to give pleasing firmness, precision and length. The 2016 17 growing season started perfectly and the promise of a text book harvest was high, with a dry warm windy Summer and abundant fruit. Just prior to harvest a series of irregular rain events through March and again in

The wine is concentrated with lifted honeysuckle, citrus and nectarine notes. The palate has a lovely creamy softness yet is still framed with a fine acid line and oak tannins to give pleasing firmness, precision and length.

The 2016/17 growing season started perfectly and the promise of a text book harvest was high, with a dry warm windy Summer and abundant fruit. Just prior to harvest a series of irregular rain events through March and again in April necessitated quick thinking and pragmatic harvest decisions to bring fruit into the winery in healthy condition. The terrific start to the season and through Summer ensured flavours and aromas remained strong. Fraser Brown, vineyard manager, did an outstanding job regulating the crop and managing the vines through the late season weather events.

Only the second release of Sound of White Chardonnay. 2 Ha of 8 year old Sauvignon Blanc was grafted over to Chardonnay (clone B95) in 2013 on a beautiful, clay rich site at Sound of White Vineyard. This strong clay presence provides an inherent richness and density to the fruit, ideal for the style of Chardonnay that we are aiming to produce.

Winemaker, Peter Jackson's desire with the Sound of White range is to celebrate the vineyard, with very little influence from the winemaker, aside from the picking decision. This necessarily entails a very simple process. The Chardonnay grapes were hand picked and whole bunch pressed and then the cloudy juice was run to 500L puncheons for un-inoculated fermentation and natural malolactic fermentation (stopped once 70% through). The puncheons were stirred once a month for their first 4 months, then left untouched for the next 7 months before racking out into tank to start preparing for bottling in early May 2017. Expect this wine to develop further flavour and character until at least 2023.

Food Pairing: Try with poultry and pork dishes and richer seafood meals.