Neudorf Moutere Chardonnay

Product Description

1978 and the New Zealand fine wine industry was almost non existent. We (Tim and I) were fresh from the “back to the land” movement of the late sixties. We wanted to make beautiful wine. We figured Tim’s masters in Animal Behaviour along with my unimpressive journalism career would be beneficial. Wrong. However we did have youth (temporary), self belief (unwarranted) and friends. At one stage we had four mortgages and three jobs each. The old house at Neudorf had electricity in two rooms, an outside long drop, an inefficient wood stove and no hot water. I look back with no regrets. Because there was so little known about basic viticulture in New Zealand we planted many varieties to see which ones were best suited to our soils. But we did it. We, and a whole heap of people – neighbours, family, friends and some fantastic staff. Each left a mark and many have gone onto work in bigger wineries or plant their own vineyard. Today 31 years later and we never feel we have it all sorted. But we love it and we are still learning, not just about viticulture and wine-making but exporting, currency exchange, the internet, human resource issues, distribution, yeasts and barrels, clones and crop levels. Very few misgivings. Making wine is constantly scary and stimulating. We survive on hard work, high hopes and a dollop of common-sense and cunning.

Bright, full, straw-yellow colour with some light golden hues, pale on rim. The bouquet grows subtly in volume with rich and ripe yellow stonefruit aromas interwoven with hints of tropical fruits, nuts, toasty oak with layers of butter and flintiness all in a complex amalgam of detail. Medium-full bodied, ripe yellow stonefruits form a weighty core with palate presence. Gentle layers of flavour unfold, revealing tropical fruits, nutty oak and flinty complexities. A very fine textural line guides the flavours with underlying power, and good acid liveliness provides energy. The mouthfeel is harmonious and well-integrated in its concentration, smooth-flowing and quite restrained in its expression of richness. The flavours carry through to a very long subtly sweet, nutty finish.