Score: 90/100
Matahiwi Estate is a New Zealand wine producer that offers 3 ranges of wine starting from Mt Hector and the Mathiwi Estate wines. The ‘Holly’ range represents their flagship, the finest expression of the producer’s savoir-faire. See further detail in Matahiwi Estate full producer profile.
The fruit for this Chardonnay wine is sourced from the Hawkes Bay region of New Zealand, just North of where the Matahiwi winery is based in the Wairarapa valley.
The Chardonnay fruit is sourced from a single vineyard in the upper reaches of the Dartmoor Valley. The vineyard is planted in several different clones of Chardonnay and features free-draining stony silt loams soil. The crop levels are kept very low and exposed to the maximum level of sunshine to ensure even ripening and the development of flavours.
Last year we reviewed the 2014 vintage Holly Chardonnay with great success (88/100 pts).
2015 vintage being a very highly-rated and regarded one in New Zealand, I was excited and curious to find how well Matahiwi had achieved with the new release. Judging by the review below, proof is made it has been a success 🙂
Tasting Notes:
The wine comes in a bright lemon-yellow color, with shiny golden hues.
Aromas are intense, both fresh and heavily nutty/oaky. On the fresh light side, there’s some elegant grass, acacia honey, a touch of lemon zest and elderflower.
On the oaky/nutty/leesy side, there’s the dough and butter so typical of barrel fermented/aged Chardonnays providing a lot of complexity and depth to the smelling experience.
Plenty to smell, analyze, experience all coated in an intense tropical and flowery bouquet.
Palate is dry, though feels sweet-ish with the tropical fruit flavors (ripe passion fruit and super-ripe mango) and some vanilla giving a sensation of overall ripeness. Loads of oaky and nutty tones here as well.
Good acidity and body that fall just a tiny bit short of keeping the wine extremely alive and zingy.
The finish is long on sandal wood, nutmeg, confit lemon and white pepper.
When to drink?
Very good to drink now, and I wouldn’t see it going that much further unless you’re looking at accentuating the already-marked nutty characters of the wine.
Please let me know your thoughts