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Chardonnay

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Vidal 2009 Hawkes Bay Chardonnay

With the warmer temperatures now becoming less sporadic, and toe onset of spring more apparent, it seems a good time to look at enjoying a chilled white, and the white wine I have chosen is Vidal’s 2009 Hawkes Bay Chardonnay. Many of you will already know about Chardonnay as it is a very popular wine and there are many New Zealand labels to choose from too. Some will also have a preference for oaked or unoaked Chardonnay.

With this particular Chardonnay, it would seem Vidal has tried to craft a wine that has the best of both worlds. 53% of the wine was fermented in stainless steel tanks with the remainder being fermented in French barriques, of those 10% were new. Both tank and barrel ferment portions were racked on light lees and aged and stirred on lees adding complexity to the wine.

I found the wine to be a good blend of both styles, with a fruit driven wine that still has the characters on the palate that oak adds to a Chardonnay. In particular, this wine has aromas of lime and other citrus fruits combined with stonefruit. On the palate I found the same characters of citrus and stonefruit including nectarine and peach combining with creamy complexity and subtle savoury oak on the palate. It is a well balanced wine with fresh flavours and a long, lingering finish. I think it might even change some minds on whether oaked or unoaked Chardonnay is best, as it shows you can still have a wonderfully fruit driven Chardonnay on oak.

This wine is drinking well now but will continue to develop further with up to four years of careful cellaring. I would recommend this wine with a chicken salad, and it is a great wine to take and serve lightly chilled on a picnic with salads and cold meats, especially chicken.

Reviewed by Stephen Clark (26/10/2010)

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