Highfield Wines

Tasting Note: Highfield Chardonnay 2011

The grapes for this Chardonnay were hand picked from a single vineyard situated on the other side of the Mill Stream, below Highfield. The free-run juice was barrel fermented in a mixture of new and one year old barriques and matured giving a beautiful balance of fruit and oak. A fine and elegant expression of Marlborough Chardonnay.

Sensory Notes:

Colour: Light gold
Aroma: Grapefruit and nectarine combine with subtle oak, brioche and biscuit notes
Palate: Fine and elegant with some creamy and toasty flavours. Oatmeal with layers of citrus and marmalade with refreshing minerality make this a focused and well balanced wine with a long finish.

Awards

5 stars, Michael Cooper’s Buyers’ Guide to NZ Wines 2012

Technical Notes

Fermentation: Whole-bunched pressed into French oak barriques. Full solids fermentation and MLF 100% in barrel
Maturation: 12 months in French oak barrels
Alcohol: 14%
Total acidity: 7.8g/l
pH: 3.27
Residual sugar: 2.0g/l
Harvest dates: 11 and 13 April 2011
Bottling dates: January 2013, under screw cap

Cellaring Potential

This wine is approachable, drinking well now and will mature nicely into 2015.

Food Suggestions

Well suited to cream based dishes and smoked seafood.