Greywacke Chardonnay 2015
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
A seductive combination of lightly toasted brioche, roasted hazelnuts and lemon curd interwoven with the potent fragrance of white-flesh peach and rockmelon. An intricate fusion of opulent fruit and a nutty, smoky savoriness derived from indigenous fermentations in French oak barriques. A bone dry and highly concentrated wine with distinct flintiness, tight structure and a crisp grapefruit finish.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Very rich, complex and layered in all respects, this is still super fresh with a little bottle age to show. The aromas of fresh and grilled yellow peaches sit attractively amid toasted-grain and hazelnut notes. The rich and complex palate holds long and smooth. Drink now. Screw cap.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A harmonious blend of roasted hazelnuts and toasted grain accents pineapple fruit in Greywacke's 2015 Chardonnay. This looks to be the best vintage of Chardonnay Kevin Judd has made to date, showing great texture, class and length. It's medium to full-bodied yet shows great length and elegance to its citrusy fruit profile.
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Wine Spectator
Creamy lemon meringue, yellow apple and pear notes are pure, stylish and supple, with delicate accents of spice and toast. Strikes the right balance between intense flavors and an elegant frame
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Wine Enthusiast
Like the previous vintage, this is a full-bodied Chard charging out of the gate with toasted nut and smoke aromas, threaded through with soft pineapple and stone fruit and vanillin oak. The palate is more restrained while still being rich. It's creamy in texture, with yet more nutty, smoky, ripe fruit and wood spice flavors balanced by crunchy acidity. Drink now–2027.
Other Vintages
2016-
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One of Marlborough’s pioneering winemakers, Kevin Judd’s appreciable career is intrinsically linked with the global path of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. Kevin’s personal venture, Greywacke (pronounced “grey-wacky”), was unveiled in 2009, fulfilling a long-held dream for himself and wife Kimberley.
Named after New Zealand’s prolific bedrock, Greywacke was originally adopted as the name of the Judds’ first vineyard in Rapaura, whose soils had an abundance of these river stones. Now living in the Omaka Valley overlooking Marlborough’s striking patchwork of vines, Kevin sources fruit from mature vineyards in the central Wairau Plains and the Southern Valleys.
Alongside winemaking, Kevin’s talent for photography has seen his evocative images appear in countless publications worldwide, and inevitably, take pride of place on the labels of his solo winemaking venture –– the synthesis of his dual passions.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
An icon and leading region of New Zealand's distinctive style of Sauvignon blanc, Marlborough has a unique terroir, making it ideal for high quality grape production (of many varieties). Despite some common generalizations, which could be fairly justified given that Marlborough is responsible for 90% of New Zealand's Sauvignon blanc production, the wines from this region are actually anything but homogenous. At the northern tip of New Zealand’s South Island, the vineyards of Marlborough benefit from well-draining, stony soils, a dry, sunny climate and wide temperature fluctuations between day and night, a phenomenon that supports a perfect balance between berry ripeness and acidity.
The region’s king variety, Sauvignon blanc, is beloved for its pungent, aromatic character with notes of exotic tropical fruit, freshly cut grass and green bell pepper along with a refreshing streak of stony minerality. These wines are made in a wide range of styles, and winemakers take advantage of various clones, vineyard sites, fermentation styles, lees-stirring and aging regimens to differentiate their bottlings, one from one another.
Also produced successfully here are fruit-forward Pinot noirs (especially where soils are clay-rich), elegant Riesling, Pinot gris and Gewürztraminer.