Latitude 41 Chardonnay

Region: Nelson and Marlborough New Zealand

Winemaker Philip Jones, Mathew Rutherford and Victor Flores

Colour:     Brilliant yellow.

Aroma    Obvious vanilla oak and tropical fruit with spicy overtones.

Palate:     Mouth filling structure with richness among flavours of tropical fruit, citrus and toasty vanilla oak. Nice length and crispness.

This wine is made from a selection of Nelson and Marlborough grapes. The result is a full bodied wine that has layers of fruit flavours that are associated with the different soil types and climatic conditions in these areas.

Vintage Conditions:     Apart from a cool, wet March warm , dry conditions prevailed during the summer. The low yields and slow ripening contributed to a very good vintage. We normally harvest different blocks at different stages of ripeness.These conditions and slow ripening produced typical rich, tropical fruit and citrus flavours. Clone 15 and Mendoza.

Harvest Date:  Late April 2005.

Vinification: The grapes were crushed and pressed. After cold settling the juice was fermented very cool at 12C. The wine was left on its lees to help develop a rich creamy flavour and add complexity. All of the wine was fermented on new French oak with high vanilla and spice flavours. The wine goes through 100% malolactic fermentation. The aging period was about 11 months.

Bottling Date:     July 2006.

Alcohol: 13.0%
pH:    3.28
Acid:    7.2 gr./litre
Residual Sugar:     3.2 gr./litre

Packaging:
    12 x 750ml Zork closure