Escarpment Chardonany 2021

Reviews

Cameron Douglas MS: 96/100.  An impressive bouquet with a distinctive core fruit ripeness , delicious flinty mineral quality and perfectly measured oak seam. Even better on the palate with a silk and fine cream texture that touches the palate first followed by flavours of peach and orange citrus oil, red apple and a touch of quince. Fine oak tanins enhance the flint quality and a noticeable mineral seam sits nicely alongside the oak. A complex and enticing wine that will age nicely with best drinking from late 2023 through 2030+.

NZ Wine Rater (Steve Bennett MW, Lynette Hudson): 94/100. Potent, complex, 'serious' nose with strong winemaking influence. There are luxurious aromas of peach, butter-slathered puff pastry, toasted almonds, vanilla pod and fresh cream. A very intense, concentrated, powerful style that pushes the boundaries. However, the structure is taut and saline with plenty of acid and a long citrus finish. It will be better still with extra time in the bottle to develop integration and harmony.

James Suckling (JamesSuckling.com): 93/100. Toasty notes are married with lime, peach, ginger snaps and salted focaccia. Nicely textured with vibrant acidity. Very fresh. Medium-bodied, sleek and elegant.

Erin Larkin, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate: 92/100. The 2021 Chardonnay is rambunctious and concentrated, with curry leaf and brine, salted yellow peach and flinty reduction showing as hints of graphite/struck match on the nose. The 2021 season experienced poor flowering. Winemaker Tim Bourne says it was "drizzly, rainy and cold," so the fruit didn't set so well. There were small bunches with small berries and not a lot of yield, but it was great quality. After direct pressing, it went into puncheons for wild ferment, then left on lees, with a "fair bit of malic acid retained in 2021—two grams," says Tim. It saw 20% new oak and matured for 11 months prior to bottling. This is an obvious wine with loads of intense flavor and lovely acidity.

Tasting Note

Complex citrus and stone fruit notes of grapefruit and nectarine balanced by tertiary aromas of lifted spiced ginger and hazelnut, with a gunflint minerality. The palate shows great cleansing acidity and a warm mouthfeel yet retaining and edgy focus of line and length.

Aromas and flavours:

Additional information

Type: white wine

Varietal: Chardonnay

Food match: A perfect match to shellfish and seafood entrées, and roasted poultry dishes.

Vineyard: Escarpment's Home Block, Martinborough, New Zealand.

Vintage 2021: 2021 in Martinborough was a small yet exceptional vintage, an accurate reflection of the district’s unique terroir.

Winemaking: Warm days and cool nights through the later growing season allowed for full ripeness, producing an opulent Chardonnay with a flinty mineral backbone. Fermentation in French oak puncheons (20% new) enhances its textural mouthfeel. Malolactic fermentation was bypassed to maintain a delectably crisp natural acidity. After 11 months in oak it saw a further 4 months in stainless steel prior to bottling.

Alcohol: 13% vol

Total Acidity: 7g/l

Bottle size: 0.75l

Notice: contains sulphites

Cellaring potential: 2027

Closure: Screwcap

Produced and bottled by: Escarpment Winery Ltd., 275 Te Muna Rd., Martinborough, New Zealand

Distributor: Weinkontor Freund GmbH, D- 33829 Borgholzhausen

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