Tasting Notes 2005
Elston 2005 has been bottled with new technology ‘DIAM’ corks. These are washed with a liquid form of carbon dioxide which eliminates any possibility of cork taint.
Elston Chardonnay 2005 is a pale lemon colour. It shows notes of stonefruit, pineapple, butterscotch and cedar on the nose, and has a rich, long palate with biscuit and white peach flavours.
This wonderful chardonnay has the potential to develop in bottle for 3-6 years from harvest and admirably partners full flavoured seafood, chicken, turkey and duck.
Technical Analysis
pH: 3.22
Total acidity as tartaric: 7g/l
Alcohol: 13.5%
Residual sugar: Dry
Winemaking
The grapes were gently whole-cluster pressed, cold settled, and racked to new and seasoned French oak barrels for fermentation. The resulting wine underwent complete malolactic fermentation and was matured in barrel for a total of ten months. During this time, the wine remained in contact with its yeast lees and was regularly stirred. The various lots were then blended and bottled in February 2006.
Vineyards
Elston 2005 is made from chardonnay grapes entirely hand harvested from Te Mata Estate vineyards between the 12th and 29th of March.
Origin
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.
