BLACK ESTATE

2011 Chardonnay

Grapes Chardonnay
Colour White
Origin New Zealand, South Island
ABV 12%

This tastes like a cross between a top NZ Chardonnay and a Pouilly Fuissé. Ripe and with generous hints of sweet tropical fruit meld with the Burgundian aromas of white flowers and fresh citrus delicacy. Delicate touch on the palate despite the ripeness, and the creaminess from barrel-fermentation and lees contact just provide a complexifying background to the fruit flavours. L&S (May 2014)


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Or, check the RELATED PRODUCTS below for different vintages or wines of a similar style.


Hand-picked Mendoza clone Chardonnay from 17 y.o. vines from the ‘Black Estate’ 3.8 ha block, WBP and indigenous yeast fermented in barrique and puncheon to 14.0% alc., the wine aged 15 months in 10% new oak on lees with full MLF. Bright, light golden-hued straw-yellow colour, lighter on rim. This has a soft, full nose, with harmoniously melded aromas of white and yellow stonefruits revealing good depth and concentration. Layers of complexing nutty oak and creamy MLF elements show, the bouquet in good proportion and elegance. Medium-full bodied, the palate is elegant with concentrated nutty, stonefruit flavours at the core. Interest and detail from the oaking, lees and MLF is subtle and integral and provide a completeness. The mouthfeel is smooth-flowing and creamy from the barrel-fermentation, and the acidity provides balance, finesse and freshness. An underlying power from the alcohol carries the flavours to a very long, finely nuanced finish. This is an elegant, fine-featured Chardonnay complete with detail and power, in the burgundian style. Match with seafood, poultry, pork and veal over the next 5+ years. Rating: 18.5/20 Raymond Chan www.raymondchanwinereviews.co.nz (Jan 2014)

Omihi subregion. Firm, mineral and linear. 2013-2015 Rating: 16 Julia Harding MW, www.JancisRobinson.com (Jun 2013)

2011 Black Estate Chardonnay, Waipara - Relatively aromatic for a non-aromatic varietal(!). Talcum powder, white flowers and white stoned fruit provide a rather Riesling-like aromatic profile. There’s also a high level of sulfites – but in a good white Bordeaux struck match way. Linear structure, taut, focused. Delicate on the mid-palate and fine acidity belie its cool climate origins. Nutty oak and alcohol well integrated. Top 5 NZ Chardonnays. Rating: 93 Rebecca Gibb MW - Vinous.com (May 2013)

Black Estate

Black Estate belongs to Pen (née Naish) and her husband Nicholas Brown with Pen's parents and siblings. It consists of three vineyard sites. There are 11.6 ha in the 'Home' vineyard, in the Omihi sub-district of Waipara, North Canterbury, where the original Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vines were planted in 1999 by Russell and Kumiko Black. The Naish family bought the vineyard in 2007 and have since converted it to organics (and now biodynamics) and planted at higher density, four hectares of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc. Black Estate soils are clay and limestone.

The second site ('The Damsteep Vineyard') is 10km further north, with 2.2 ha of Riesling and 5ha of Pinot Noir grown at 5000 vines per hectare. Clay over sandstone and limestone.

The third site is the Netherwood vineyard which is on Waipara Greensand, which weirdly is of similar age and glauconitic character to those found in Kent and Champagne.

The wines are made by Nicholas who had considerable experience prior to joining Black Estate, including seven years with Daniel Schuster Wines and vintages in Chianti, Piemonte, Napa Valley and Oregon.

Black Estate aims to make wines which are truly expressive of their site, by growing and making wine as naturally as possible. Most of the vineyard has been managed biodynamically since 2010, (Netherwood from 2012) and it is all fully certified as organic, with biodynamic certification in progress.

Writing for JamesSuckling.com Rebecca Gibb muses - "I think I may have a crush on this relative newcomer. Everything they have turns to gold at the moment: from their broody Omihi Pinot Noir and Beaujolais-like Netherwood rose to their Omihi Chardonnay. They can’t put a foot wrong at the moment. Keep your eyes – and lips – on this Waipara outfit."

Nicholas was awarded 'Winemaker of the Year' by Gourmet Traveller magazine in February 2022. The citations says 'Never one to shy away from experimentation, Nicholas Brown has an uncanny knack for creating wines that not only speak to the site, but also of the man. "You’re only as good as the grapes that you grow and they’re only as good as the place that they come from,” says Nicholas Brown. His dedication to Black Estate’s three Omihi vineyards over the past 12 years has resulted not only in some of the most compelling single-vineyard wines from Waipara, but the whole of New Zealand.' (Dr Jo Burzynska)

This wine isn't currently part of a mixed case, but you can always browse our full selection of mixed cases here.
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