From NZ$30.05, £15, $29.99
It's a confusing time for Chardonnay, as Jancis discussed last month in Struck-match wines – reductio ad absurdum . But Cypress, Terraces Chardonnay 2013 Hawke's Bay, from a vineyard that sits on top of Roy's Hill, overlooking the famous Gimblett Gravels subregion near the east coast of New Zealand's North Island – source of the dozen reds reviewed by Jancis this morning – could not be more confident in its identity nor more successful in its mission to give pleasure.
The north-facing 35-degree slope pictured below gets the full benefit of New Zealand sunshine, tempered by the warm winds from the river flood plain below. The vineyard was planted 12 years ago by owners Gus and Mel Lawson, responsible for the establishment of nearby Te Awa Farm, which they sold in 2002.
Hand harvesting (no choice with a slope like this) is followed by whole-bunch pressing and fermentation in French oak (80% new, 20% one year old), some barrels are inoculated with yeast, others make their own way with the ambient yeast of the vineyard and cellar. The wine is then aged for 10 months in barrel on the gross lees, stirring weekly up to the end of malolactic conversion, and it was bottled in February 2014. Consultant winemaker Rod McDonald has more than 20 years' experience in the region and it shows.
The result is a stylish, expertly made wine that is bursting with fruit – a combination of sophistication and comfort food. I tasted and drank it over a few days and on the third day it was still vibrant and delicious, and although it is pretty irresistible now, it will surely cellar very well for a few years. Here's my tasting note:
Beautifully complex and expressive aroma that integrates peachy melon and citrus fruit, smoky, creamy oak and a light dusting of oak spice with the merest hint of smoky reduction. On the palate, there is intense lemon, orange zest and apricot even though it is bone dry, with just a very light textural grip. This is both deliciously flavourful and also classy and long. Has all the fruit flavour and lively freshness of NZ (pH 3.3, TA 8.32 g/l) alongside sophisticated – subtle but decisive – winemaking and expert handling of very good fruit. Great raw material, great stewarding in the cellar. Long, deep and satisfying and still so fresh. Alcohol (14%) is not at all intrusive. Pour me another glass!
If Chardonnay styles are swinging back and forth, this one has hit the plumb line while staying true to its place of birth.
In the UK, Cypress Terraces Chardonnay 2013 is available online from Bordeaux Index and The New Zealand Cellar; it can also be found chez Corks Out (several branches in the north west), Thomas Peatling (Suffolk), Woodbridge Wine Company (Suffolk), Flourish & Prosper (Gloucestershire), Dorset Wine Company (Dorset), Leamington Wine Company (Warwickshire), Wine Utopia (Hampshire). The wine is imported into the US by Wine Dogs and is available from Sherry Lehmann (NY), Slope Cellars (Brooklyn), K&L Wine Merchants (CA) and in several restaurants in New York, including Public, Bowery and Vine, Musket Room, Kiwiana, Whitehall and Highlands.
