Te Mānia
Nelson Reserve Chardonnay 2008

Te Mānia’s premier white wine produced in seasons where fruit quality achieves an exceptional standard.  In making this wine we have selected only the finest fruit from 16 year old vines in our Home Block vineyard.  The grapes are of the ‘Mendosa’ clone renowned for their low yielding, high quality fruit. 

Nose:  A rich nose with marmalade, ripe grapefruit, cedary oak and biscuity characters.

Palate:  Full, rich, sweet palate with ripe, concentrated fruit backed by generous oak. Some savoury/biscuity characters with toasty vanilla and a touch of nuttiness. Powerful, complex and well-weighted with a round, creamy, lingering finish.

Vintage:  Intensive viticulture, including Scott Henry trellising and hand leaf plucking, ensures maximum exposure of the grapes to the sun and encourages optimum ripeness and flavour development.  The grapes for the Reserve Chardonnay were hand picked.

The grapes were whole bunch pressed in order to achieve the finest quality juice.  The juice was then fermented in a selection of French and American (225 litre) oak barriques where the wines lees where stirred twice per month and aged for 11 months before blending, filtration and bottling.  Full malolactic fermentation has added to the complexity of the finished wine.

 Alcohol: 14.5%    Residual Sugar: 3 gms/L    Acidity: 6.2 gms/L

"Ripe, intense and opulent on the nose displaying tropical fruit, toasty oak and subtle creamy characters. The palate is richly textured and generously proportioned with silky mouthfeel and well pitched acidity. A full-bodied Chardonnay with a strong oak influence.****½ Stars"

- Sam Kim, Wine Orbit

"Highly flavoured style, fermented and matured for 11 months in French and American oak barriques. Mouthfilling, with strong, citrusy flavours seasoned with toasty oak. Still youthful."

- Michael Cooper

“Quite a concentrated Chardonnay with good weight and texture. Nicely integrated flavours of nectarine, grapefruit and sizzled butter/butterscotch plus a seasoning of spicy/vanilla oak. Tangy acidity with a slightly resinous character.”

- Bob Campbell M.W.

Price: $27.90 per bottle. > ORDER NOW