Fabulous new Chardonnay from Bilancia in Hawkes Bay. Loads going on here! Amazing that this is only the second crop from this vineyard.
"The 2021 Kaikora Vineyard Chardonnay opens with the most aromatic of noses—apple blossom, white peach, a hint of preserved lemon rind, sea salt, fresh-picked curry leaves, blonde tobacco, wet slate and a host of other beguiling characters. There's more every time I go back—asphalt and petrichor, ozone and crushed nuts, then tea tree and saltbush. In the mouth, the wine is powerful and open knit; the phenolics that encase the fruit do so in a supportive way, and the oak here is subtle on the nose, nearly imperceptible, save for the spiced complexity and shape of the thing. What a ripping Chardonnay. Exciting. Palate-staining. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap." 96 pts Erin Larkin The Wine Advocate
