HUNTER’S 2008 MARLBOROUGH CHARDONNAY

Winemaker’s Notes
Peach and fresh fruit on the nose with some stonefruit and a hint of light toasty oak.
A rich, rounded palate with plenty of fruit combines to add balance to the oak and a creamy finish
with a good balance between the acidity and fruit enhancing the lingering finish.

Technical Details
Harvest Date: 13 March – 3 April 2008
Brix at Harvest: 23.5 Average
Alcohol: 13.5%
Total Acidity: 5.5 g/l
Residual Sugar: 1.7 g/l
Bottling Date: 27 January 2009

Vintage Conditions
Ideal weather conditions starting right from the flowering period meant a good fruit set. This
combined with a long hot summer saw the ripening of the fruit occurring earlier than in past years.
All the varieties developed fantastic fruit flavours and were in very good condition when harvest
began early March. As vintage progressed, rain hit the Marlborough region in early April and we had
harvest all but a small proportion of our fruit.

Vinification
The Chardonnay grapes were machine harvested in the cool of the morning, then destemmed,
crushed and pressed to stainless steel tanks. The juice was allowed to settle and was then racked
and fermented using a neutral yeast.
Approximately 40% of the juice was fermented in new French medium toasted barriques. The
medium toasting allowed the fruit characters typical of Marlborough to show through the subtle
French oak.
After completing fermentation in stainless steel, the balance of the wine was aged in one and two
year old oak for nine months, with approximately 25% undergoing malolactic fermentation. The
malolactic fermentation is used to help lower the natural acid while still retaining fruit freshness and
to give the wine a balance between acid, oak and fruit. Each vineyards fruit was fermented
separately to allow more scope when blending

Awards: The New Zealand International Wine Show 2009 – GOLD

Wine Orbit, Issue 7, June 2010 – 4.5 stars, 91/100
Wine Orbit, Senior Wine Judge Sam Kim, Nov 2009 – 4.5 stars
Wrest Point Royal Hobart International Wine Show 2009 – Silver
2010 New World Wine Awards - Silver
International Chardonnay Challenge 2010 – Bronze
New Zealand International Wine Show 2010 - Bronze
Winestate Magazine Marlborough Regional Tasting 2010 – 3 stars
Winestate Magazine Marlborough Regional Tasting 2009 – 3 stars

Hunter’s Wines (NZ) Ltd

P O Box 5094, Springlands, Blenheim 7241, New Zealand
telephone: + 64 3 5728489 facsimile: + 64 3 5728457 freephone: 0800 486 837 (NZ only)
email: wine@hunters.co.nz website: www.hunters.co.nz