2012 Kumeu River Mates Vineyard Chardonnay

This is a tribute to the father who started the winery in 1944, mostly fortified wines and table wines, they used to make Sauvignon blanc but they stopped because the industry there is 60% or more of this single varietal. The vineyard here were planted in 1990, he passed away in 1992 and he passed away in 1993, the only vineyard of the old Mendoza clone prone to hen and chickens so you get higher acidity and higher sugar on the same cluster, they hand harvest and they whold cluster press 700 + liters per ton they get more tannins the good ones not the bitter ones, gives the wine more extract, the soils are heavy clay and they retain lots of water, a cool wet vineyard but they separate the rot out. This wine is very well balanced and has a very high acid and some tannins here at the end, this wine would do well in a bit of time but has everything in place. Most Excellent