Greywacke - Chardonnay 2019
Greywacke is located in Marlborough , New Zealand . Kevin Judd is one of Marlborough's pioneer winemakers whose career is intrinsically linked to the global profile of New Zealand wine. Kevin Judd was born in England and raised in Australia, where he studied winemaking at Roseworthy College and first made wine in Reynella, South Australia. He moved to New Zealand in 1983 and joined Selaks Wines. He subsequently became the founding winemaker of Cloudy Bay, a pivotal role in which he led the company's first 25 vintages. In 2009, he created his own label: Greywacke, named after the prolific pebble from New Zealand. Richard Ellis , born in Wellington and raised in Auckland, moved to the South Island in 2000 to study viticulture and oenology at the University of Lincoln. After graduation, he joined Pernod Ricard as an assistant winemaker based mainly in Auckland. In mid-2007, he decided to broaden his viticultural experience by working consecutive harvests in alternate hemispheres. The first stop was France at Château de Pennautier (Languedoc), back to New Zealand with Ata Rangi for the 2008 vintage, to the United States with Stoller Winery in Oregon and finishing at Tamar Ridge in Tasmania. He joined Greywacke for the 2014 harvest in Marlborough and then spent the rest of the year in London representing Greywacke in the UK. He has now relocated permanently to Marlborough as an integral part of Team Greywacke.
The Chardonnay grapes in this wine are primarily grown from the low-yielding Mendoza clone , known for its flavor concentration and crisp acidity. The majority of the fruit comes from the Brancott Valley and Fairhall, grown in gravelly and clay soils, the remainder comes from Renwick and Rapaura, grown in young alluvial soils containing high proportions of greywacke river stones, ubiquitous in New -Zealand. The vineyards were hand-harvested separately at high levels of maturity and the whole bunches pressed using very low maceration pressing cycles. The juice obtained was lightly decanted and racked into French oak barrels, 16% of which were new . The lees were occasionally stirred and the wine underwent a complete malolactic fermentation. He was raised for 11 months .
Grape variety: 100% Chardonnay
