Smith and Sheth CRU Heretaunga Chardonnay 2020
- Decanter
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Wine
Enthusiast - Vinous
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Vibrant pale straw color with some green tinges. Fresh and fruit driven, almost Chablis-like in style. Complex and light on its feet. Vibrant acidity balanced by a creamy, lingering texture.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
A sophisticated, pure and silky-textured bouquet, fresh peach and red apple, salty air and a clay stone mineral quality. The oak seam is noticeable but not overdone, with a nut and baking spice complexity. A powerful satin texture is contrasted by a core of fruit, flavours of new and mild toasted barrel. Refreshing, lengthy and complex. Drinking Window: 2022 - 2030.
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Wine Enthusiast
This is a pristine, Burgundy-influenced Chardonnay with poise and ageworthiness. The nose is bright and enticing, with notes of lemon and melon rind set to a backdrop of cream, toast and rock salt. The full-figured palate is slippery with a vivid line of acidity. Oak and lees influence add opulence, texture and complexity while knowing their place as supporting characters. Drinking beautifully now, this has the potential to age gracefully until around 2030.
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Vinous
The 2020 Chardonnay Cru Heretaunga is certainly not a sweet, fruity Chardonnay. Instead, it displays savory and subtle smoky notes and offers up an almond-like lees flavor on the supple, open midpalate. Initially welcoming and open, it ties up smartly on the finish. There's no sense of trying too hard; the careful handling of the fruit has created a refined texture, which is followed by a line of fine acidity providing a lengthy, drawn-out finish.
Other Vintages
2017-
Wilfred
Wong -
James
Suckling -
Wine
Enthusiast -
Robert
Parker
We are in the business of creating great wines that bring great pleasure. As contemporary negociants Steve Smith MW and Brian Sheth seek out the exceptional. Hand selecting the best grapes from the finest vineyards. Establishing steadfast relationships with the land, growers and makers who form the DNA of our CRU. The French call it "terroir" – a sense of place. In New Zealand we have our own defining word - Turangawaewae - our place to stand in the world. This word describes the special connection of a people and the land they live, love and work in. Our wines reflect the magic and alchemy of this relationship and the true beauty of these places. It is our privilege to share the pleasure, culture and craft of wine with you.
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.