Wairiki Wines
The Matriarch Chardonnay 2023 750ml

The queen of white wine some say, and a Hawke’s Bay signature.

Our elevated inland site with its hot days and cool nights coupled with stony free draining soils enables us to produce Chardonnay with nice ripe white stone fruit and citrus aromatics. The Chardonnay vines are hand tended in Burgundian peasant fashion and selectively hand harvested by family and friends.

The 2023 vintage was our Cyclone Gabrielle vintage, but the Indian summer that followed delivered beautifully ripe fruit that we whole bunch pressed to barrel for fermentation with wild/indigenous yeasts. Full malolactic fermentation was undertaken with some lees stirring and this has delivered a sophisticated style of Hawke's Bay chardonnay. Immediate impression is of very ripe stone fruit and citrus tones. Then the warm creaminess comes forward with mellow buttery vanilla oak tones. Nice acid balance suggests this wine is going to develop beautifully over the next 5 years.

Ideally matched with seafood or chicken, but try it with some Asian influenced dishes- you will be rewarded.