Te Awa Left Field Chardonnay

On the palate, extra richness has been squeezed into the wine through a longer than normal contact time with the yeast lees. I believe the lees contribute richness up until nine months post fermentation, from that point they start ‘letting go’ their inherent flavour: cream, yoghurt and other complex savoury notes. “For Left Field we want the richness, not necessarily the extra flavour. The palate finishes with more volume than it starts is a good indicator.” Says Ant Mackenzie, Winemaker
Te Awa is a single estate situated in the Gimblet Gravels area of Hawkes Bay, New Zealand premium red wine producing area. Hotter than Bordeaux and with similar gravely soils to Graves, it is unsurprising that this region produces fine examples of Bordeaux blends with some exciting Chardonnay and Syrah to boot. If you didn’t think New Zealand could make red wines that weren’t Pinot Noir, think again.
The full Maori name given to the site is Te Awa o Te Atua, which means ‘River of God’, a reference to the mysterious subterranean streams over which the vineyards are situated and from which the wines draw a lot of their character.