Mission Estate Chardonnay 2013
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
As New Zealand’s oldest winery, Mission Estate has a longstanding reputation for producing award winning, quality wines. Their commitment is to consistently produce excellent value-for-money wines, using the best of old-and new-world winemaking techniques. This ensures that Mission Estate continues to be one of the most established and highly regarded producers in New Zealand.
Mission has never lost sight of its French heritage as over the years Brothers of the Order have traveled to France to study and learn viticulture and winemaking skills. Mission winemaker, Paul Mooney was originally trained by the Mission Fathers and has been with Mission Estate for over 30 years.
It is Mission Estate’s belief that sustainable winegrowing is an environmental management system that will ensure the protection of their land, environment, people and nation. By farming sustainably it will also ensure consistent premium fruit production. Mission Estate is also a leader in producing wine in the most energy efficient and environmentally friendly manner possible. In 2007 Mission Estate remodeled their winery to make it the largest sustainable winery in New Zealand.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
An eclectic region on the east coast of the North Island, Hawkes Bay extends from wide, fertile, coastal plains, inland, to the coast range, whose peaks reach as high as 5,300 feet. While the flatter areas were historically more popular because they are easier to cultivate, their alluvial soils can be too fertile for vines. In the late 20th century, the drive for quality led growers to the hills where soils are free-draining, limestone-rich and more suited to producing high quality wines.
Over the passing of time, the old Ngaruroro River laid down deep, gravelly beds, which were subsequently exposed after a huge flood in the 1860’s. In the 1980s growers identified this stretch, which continues for approximately 800 ha, and named it the Gimblett Gravels. The zone has proven to be ideal for the production of excellent red wines, particularly Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah.
Today the area takes well-earned recognition for its Bordeaux blends and other reds. Expressive of intense stewed red and black berry with gentle herbaceous characters, Gimblett Gravels wines are suggestive of their cool climate origin, and on par with other top-notch Bordeaux blends around the globe.
Chardonnay is the top white grape in Hawkes Bay, making elegant wines, strong in stone fruit character. Sauvignon blanc comes in close behind, notable for its tropical, fruit forward qualities.