Villa Maria Single Vineyard Taylors Pass Chardonnay 2018
"...artfully combines hints of toast, grilled sweet corn and ripe peaches...dangerously easy to drink."robertparker.com
| Winemaker | Nick Picone |
|---|---|
| Organic | No |
| SKU | 300296 |
| ABV | 13.50% |
Villa Maria's Single Vineyard Taylors Pass is a refined and pure, mineral-driven style of Chardonnay with ripe stone fruit characteristics shining through.
Grapes for this vintage come, unsurprisingly, from the Taylors Pass Vineyard, situated on a warm, stony terrace on the northern side of the Awatere River. Fruit was hand-picked, and the wine aged for 14 months to build texture and complexity.
Under owner Sir George Fistonich, Villa Maria has grown from a one-man band to an icon of the New Zealand wine industry over fifty years. George started growing vines at the tender age of 21 and made his first wine back in 1962 under the name Villa Maria, with grapes he harvested from a five acre block he leased from his father in Mangere, Auckland. George, supported by his wife, Gail, continued to make wine himself in the 1960s, before expanding in the 1970s. Today, Villa Maria employs more than 250 permanent staff, grows 28 different grape varieties, and exports wine to over 60 countries worldwide.
"The nose of the 2018 Single Vineyard Taylors Pass Chardonnay artfully combines hints of toast, grilled sweet corn and ripe peaches. It was a warm vintage, and the wine shows less acidity than most other vintages, with a round lushness to the mouthfeel that makes it dangerously easy to drink."robertparker.com
91 Points - robertparker.com
Refined, pure and elegant, a mineral-driven style, enhanced by subtle lemon citrus and gun smoke/flinty characters. Concentrated layers of citrus fruits, almond and subtle integrated oak; finishes long.