Delta Hatters Hill Chardonnay 2021

Selected predominantly from a unique site in Marlborough's Ure Valley. Our flagship Chardonnay shows bold and spicy characters with flavours of ripe figs, vanilla spite and freshly toasted pine nuts.

Our Hatters Hill Chardonnay was harvested predominantly from a small vineyard in the Ure Valley, located in the Southern tip of Marlborough. This balance was hand selected from small parcels of grapes from the southern side of the Wairau Valley. The combination of sites fuses together the Ure Valley's subtle minerality with the Wairau Valley's rich and expressive characteristics, making for a complex and bold Marlborough Chardonnay.

Our Hatters Hill Chardonnay was harvested from a beautiful vineyard located in the Dillons Point area of the Wairau Valley, Marlborough. The vineyard is situatied alongside the Ōpaoa River, originally a tributary of the larger Wairau River. The river has deposited nutrient rich soils throughout the area, so vines are fertile and are carefully managed by our vineyard team. The 2021 vintage was an exceptional year, with small tight bunches of grapes, producing concentrated and rich flavours in a small volume.

The Chardonnay grapes were lighty pressed and trasferred into French oak barrels for fermentation, half of which were brand new oak barriques. Fermented with a specially selected yeast strain, the grapes then went through malolactic fermentataion and were left on the lees for ten months in barrel, with regular stirring to enhance the creamy characteristics. Heather then selected her favourite barrels for blending prior to lightly filtering and gentle bottling.

Left on the lees in barrel for ten months prior to barrel selection and bottling.