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The majority of the fruit was sourced from the upper Brancott Valley with the balance coming from its lower reaches. Typical of this sub-region, the wind-blown loess soils are comprised of clay-loams with varying degrees of gravel content. Both vineyards are planted with the low-yielding Mendoza clone, known for its propensity for millerandage (small and normal sized berries in the same bunch) and were trained on a two-cane VSP trellis.
The two vineyards were hand-picked separately at high ripeness levels and whole bunch pressed using very low maceration press cycles. The resulting juice was settled and racked to French oak barriques (25% new). The juice was allowed to undergo spontaneous indigenous yeast fermentation, the final phase continuing for almost 12 months. The wine received occasional lees stirring and underwent a complete malo-lactic fermentation. It was transferred out of oak after 16 months and left on yeast lees a further two months. The wine was bottled in November 2010.
My Chardonnay is a low intervention style, laden with vanilla and cashew aromas. The palate is rich with citrus and baked bread flavours. It’s a mouth filling, savoury wine with a mineral backbone and crisp citrus finish. The fruit is sourced from 2 vineyards in the Brancott Valley, famed for its free-draining gravel soils and great Chardonnay fruit from the ‘Mendoza’ clone. The fruit is hand picked, undergoes a very gentle pressing and then racked off into oak barrels, 25% of which is new. This juice undergoes spontaneous natural yeast fermentation in these barrels and then after 16 months of maturation, malo-lactic and lees stirring. It is then removed into tank and allowed 2 more months before bottling. Bottling took place in November last year (2010). Kevin Judd.
Kevin Judd is intrinsically linked with the global profile of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. Born in England and raised in Australia he moved to NZ in 1983 becoming the founding winemaker at little known winery Cloudy Bay. Kevin played a pivotal role, directing the first 25 vintages until he resigned in 2008. By any definition he is the father of the inimitable NZSB style. Not only this Kevin has a parallel career as one of the World's great wine photographers.
Fruit for Greywacke SB is sourced from the small Judd Family vineyard in Rapaura and from mature Sutherland family plots in the Wairau Plains and Southern Marlborough Valleys – specifically Woodbourne and Renwick. The name derives from the indigenous Greywacke rock that is prevalent throughout the Marlborough region and was registered as a wine name by Kevin back in 1993 with the vague notion that he might one day want to produce a wine of his own. Today he is also producing a stunning Chardonnay, a full-throttle lees aged and lightly oaked 'Wild' Sauvignon, a Pinot Noir that has given critics serious cause to revise their view of Marlborough Pinot and a late harvest Gewurztraminer sweet wine.
The wines are made by Kevin at the famous Dog Point winery, a facility extended to him by long-standing friends and industry colleagues Ivan Sutherland and James Healy. Kevin’s famed ‘non-interventionist’ technique is leading to more and more great wines.