Oyster Bay Chardonnay

Description

Fresh melon, juicy white peach and citrus zest, perfumed with delicate floral notesand a lingering creamy texture. – Michael Ivicevich, Chief WinemakerThe philosophy of Oyster Bay is to produce fine, distinctively regional wines that are elegant and assertive with glorious fruit flavours. Oyster Bay Marlborough Chardonnay truly captures the character of Marlborough with pure, incisive, ripe fruit flavours. A combination of barrel and tank fermentation and the stirring of yeast lees achieves maximum softness, integration and texture. To retain all the natural assertiveness and flavour, no malolactic fermentation takes place. Clonal influences in the vineyard have been very important, providing smaller berries and enhanced flavour intensity. The result of all of this is delicious Oyster Bay Marlborough Chardonnay with concentrated aromas and flavours of ripe citrus and stonefruit, balanced with subtle oak, and a creamy texture to finish. A sublime expression of fruit purity from Marlboroughs unique cool climate and soils.Marlborough Growing Season 2015 December had a cool start which was sustained by a southerly flow and reduced temperatures throughout the month. These cool conditions over the early stages of flowering, moderated shoot growth and fruit set. By January, Marlborough was enjoying a warm and dry summer. This created an exceptional environment for veraison and flavour development in the fruit. Settled weather conditions, clear skies and abundant sunshine created warm growing conditions above the long-term average. Dry weather conditions prevailed. Vine health was sustained through irrigation with welcome rainfall arriving in early March. Warm conditions over the summer months allowed the lower yielding fruit to progressively develop exceptional flavour. One of Marlboroughs great seasons, with fruit showing brilliance in flavour and aromatics, with excellent balance.Soil Type Prime central Wairau, Renwick and Brancott soils. Shallow, silt loams over deep layers of free-draining stones. Moderate fertility low vigoursoils. Clonal / Rootstock Selection Chardonnay clones were selected to provide smaller berries and more flavour intensitypredominantly Dijon B95, UCD 15, UCD 6, 548 and Mendoza. Medium to low vigour rootstocks were matched for suitability to clone and soil.Oak Selection Oak was selected from predominantly the Allier region in France. The tight grains of this wood are less tannic, more aromatic and provide layers of texture and complexity to the wine. These were seasoned for a minimum two year period and medium toasted, ensuring no harsh tannins and heightened aromatic potential. The barriques were supplied by renowned coopers Dargaud & Jaegle, Francois Freres, Chassin and Treuil.Winemaking Techniques The fruit was destemmed and lightly pressed with the free run and pressed juice cold settled to partial clarity, racked into stainless steel fermentation tanks and inoculated with a pure yeast culture. 50% of the ferment was transferred to French oak barriques and allowed a slow temperature controlled fermentation at 1416 C 5760 F for several weeks. The barrique fermented wine was lees stirred on a weekly basis and matured for 9 months to achieve maximum softness and retention of varietal flavours. The tank fermented portion was held on yeast lees stirred, racked and prepared for final blending. No malolactic fermentation was undertaken, the resulting wine was then blended and filtered prior to bottling. – Oyster Bay