CHRIS SCOTT, ONE OF NEW ZEALAND’S MOST AWARDED WINEMAKERS, IS BRANCHING OUT ON HIS OWN.
2024 Chardonnay
Hawke’s Bay
The Florilegium is our flagship wine, our Grande Cuvee. Rather than adopt a Burgundian model, where the terroir of a single vineyard is the hero, we believe the best wines can be made with an approach more akin to great Champagne, where the assemblage or art of blending is celebrated. Understanding and harnessing the attributes and personalities of each great vineyard, each clone and each ferment to bring to life something that is greater than the sum of the parts.
Texturally and structurally complete, aromatically complex, The Florilegium is a wine of great depth and harmony. Luxurious yet understated, opulent but never loud. A seamless wine that builds gently but surely across the palate. The approach is fine textured and restrained, then feathers out across the mid and back palate, gently building in weight and presence as it goes. it has a sense of richness without ever appearing heavy or cloying and finishes long, lithe and finessed with a finely tuned acidity and an element of flinty, slate-like grip helping to draw out the finish. The aroma profile includes ripe white peach, acacia flower, zesty citrus fruit and blossom, toasted almond, hazelnut and mineral elements. But there is a subtleness to the aromatics as a whole. No one element is leaping out and each note is deliciously complimentary. Overall, the wine leaves an impression of refinement.
We expect The Florilegium to age gracefully for 10 years or more from vintage date.
Total Production 833 bottles
Further information below.
2024 Chardonnay
Tukituki Valley, Hawke’s Bay
The Briny Wink takes its name from a whimsical literary inspiration: Lewis Carroll’s 19th Century poetic personification of a wise old oyster, who winked his eye, shook his head, and chose to remain in his bed. It is a name aptly suggestive of the whispered influence of the ocean, past and present. The cooling sea breeze, the transformation of an ancient sea bed into the surrounding limestone crags (abundant with fossilised shells), and the slow erosion of those hills that has helped form the calcareous clay soils in which these Chardonnay vines now grow.
This is the lightest, most ethereal of the trio of 2024 Chardonnays, almost Chablis like in its structure and fragrance. Aromas of lemon zest, acacia flower, citrus blossom, and flinty oystershell lead into subtly richer notes of fresh fig and a background lick of roasted almond. The palate is medium weight, gentle with an airy freshness yet not insubstantial. It finishes with a slate like dryness and a wisp of savoury salinity that draws out the palate.
We expect The Briny Wink to age gracefully for 8 years or more from vintage date.
Total Production 1097 bottles
Further information below.
2024 Chardonnay
Bridge Pa Triangle, Hawke’s Bay
Hawke’s Bay’s western ranges and the volcanic peaks of the Central Plateau are integral to the character of the inland vineyards of Hawke’s Bay. They not only provide shelter from the prevailing westerly weather, but over millennia have also been the source of deep gravel beds, windblown loess and volcanic ash that make up these exceptional viticultural soils. Mountains were often personified as giants in legend, and in naming this wine we imagined a tale of Titans in a violent struggle, raining rock and ash into the plains and valleys below. A past of tectonic upheaval, fractured rock and and fiery volcanos, belied by the quiet pastoral landscapes of today.
A particularly intriguing chardonnay, quite unlike any other I have made. Exceptionally complex, yet not in a showy way, it has a structure that epitomises the notion of restrained power. A concentration and presence that is drawn out, linear and lithe rather than broad shouldered and heavy set. The fruit profile includes subtle white peach, clementine, cashew and a hint of orange blossom laced with subtle struck match / gunsmoke, roasted nut, shortbread and spice including clove, nutmeg and mace, there is a mineral element to the aromatics too, suggestive of petrichor / hot stone and iron. On the palate, the wine is full but bone dry and very tightly focused, driven by an excellent acid line, grainy stone like texture and a savoury, saline finish that makes it an exceptionally good food wine.
We expect The Stone Giants to age gracefully for 10 years or more from vintage date.
Total Production 1050 bottles
Further information below.
winding journeyS, wise old oysters and sleeping memories of forgotten legend. every wine has a story to tell.
every wine a testament to chris’ dedication and skill, his absolute commitment to quality.
these are chris scott’s wines.