Esk Valley Artisanal Hawke's Bay Chenin Blanc 2021

Esk Valley Artisanal Hawke's Bay Chenin Blanc 2021"Splendidly styled and expressed with ripe apple, apricot, subtle spice and rich floral aromas, it's succulent and fleshy in the mouth offering excellent fruit intensity backed by bright acidity, finishing lingering and mouth watering. At its best: now to 2027" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, Feb 2022 This wine reveals classic Chenin Blanc notes of baked apple, peach, citrus and honey. It is dry in style with a full and rich palate, enhanced by long term ageing

"Splendidly styled and expressed with ripe apple, apricot, subtle spice and rich floral aromas, it's succulent and fleshy in the mouth offering excellent fruit intensity backed by bright acidity, finishing lingering and mouth-watering. At its best: now to 2027" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, Feb 2022

This wine reveals classic Chenin Blanc notes of baked apple, peach, citrus and honey. It is dry in style with a full and rich palate, enhanced by long term ageing on yeast lees.

This is a single vineyard wine from the Two Terraces Vineyard situated inland at Mangatahi. The Chenin Blanc plantings are located on the lower of the two gravel river terraces formed by the Ngaruroro River. Two clones of Chenin Blanc (220 and 880) are planted, with each providing its own distinctive characteristics to the finished wine. Planted in 2017, these vines are intensively managed in the pursuit of quality wine.

The fruit was picked at 23.4 and 23.9 brix on the 23rd March 2021. It was pressed lightly, settled overnight and run to a mix of large format oak barrels and small tanks for fermentation with wild yeast. The tank fermented portion was stopped with a small amount of residual sugar to provide richness to the final blend. The wine was aged on its lees with regular stirring until being blended in January 2022. 540 cases were bottled.

Food Pairing: It is delicious as a young wine but will gain complexity with time in the bottle and will make the perfect accompaniment to seafood dishes.