Te Mata Elston Chardonnay

"Almond, cinnamon, nutmeg, green tobacco, a little gun smoke, nashi pear and nectarine. There’s some real lemonade flavour along with dried pear, a pleasing crunch and freshness to acidity, a friand and dried coconut richness, and a bright finish of excellent length. Ticks a lot of boxes, you might say. Very good chardonnay." Gary Walsh

• Winery: Te Mata Estate
  
• Varietal: Chardonnay
  
• Region: Hawke's Bay, New Zealand
  
• Vintage: 2021
  
• Alcohol: 14%
  
• Volume: 750ml
  
• Closure: Cork
  
• Other: Sustainable Winegrowing
  
• Food pairing: Chicken; veal & pork; shrimp, crab & lobster; potato & squash; cream & pesto sauces; mild & semi soft cheeses
  

Winery Notes - Brilliant white gold in the glass, this Elston Chardonnay has wonderfully intense aromas of golden peach, apricot, and lemon zest. Focused but flowing - this is a wine of precision, power, and poise. On the mouth-watering palate there’s oodles of ripe, white-fleshed fruit, nougat and nutmeg, integrated fine oak tannin, and just a flick of salinity. A long line of sweet citrus acidity, and ripe Hawke’s Bay chardonnay fruit, runs through here.

Elston is named for Elston Hall in Nottinghamshire, the ancestral home of Charles Darwin’s family. Darwin’s ‘theory of natural selection’ forms the basis of modern evolutionary theory, the foundation of biology. The wyvern symbol of Elston Hall appears on the label.

Te Mata Estate was originally part of Te Mata Station, a large pastoral land-holding established by English immigrant, John Chambers, in 1854. A homestead and stables were built on the property in the early 1870’s. After returning from France, John Chamber’s third son, Bernard, had the idea to plant vineyards on the north-facing hills around Havelock North. In 1892, Bernard Chambers planted vines on three parcels of hillside land above the homestead and began converting the original stables to ferment and mature these first Te Mata Estate Wines. Today, Te Mata Estate still uses those same three vineyards. The Chambers family sold the property in 1919. Te Mata Vineyards (TMV) was established and the property had two other owners until it was acquired by the Buck and Morris families in 1974 - the two families behind the modern interpretation of this historic New Zealand estate. 

Hawke’s Bay is a very special place for making wine. Its range of slopes, plains and climatic differences, coupled with low humidity and ample ultra-violet light, give winemakers a comprehensive toolkit to showcase their skills. Soils are young and derived from the gravels, silt and sands left behind as the three main rivers of Hawke’s Bay changed course over thousands of years. Te Mata Estate was established here in 1896, specialising in high-quality wines of classical style. Every step in the production of Te Mata's wines are undertaken by them, from grape growing and pruning through to winemaking and bottling. Te Mata Estate is committed to improving its performance in terms of environmental, social and economic sustainability through the Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand programme and was one of the first to be accredited in 1995. According to Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, Te Mata Estate is one of "New Zealand’s greatest wineries".

• 94/100 Points - Gary Walsh, Wine Orbit (2021 vintage)
• 95/100 Points & 5 Stars - Bob Campbell MW, The Real Review (2019 vintage)
  
• 94/100 Points - Cameron Douglas MS (2019 vintage)
  
• 95/100 Points & 5 Stars - Sam Kim, Wine Orbit (2019 vintage)
  
• 5 Stars - Michael Cooper, NZ Listener (2019 vintage)