2022 Charteris Vandermark Vineyard Riesling
Lime, apple blossom and a hint of mandarin collide with wet river rocks and intense florals to create and festoon of aromatics. Citrus and apple granita flow through the palate on a slippery dip of blurred lines between sweetness and piquant acidity. The illusion of textured silk leaving a hint of lemonade ice blocks on the finish.
In Stock
Wine Specs
Vintage
2022
Appellation
Bendigo
Vineyard Designation
The Vandermark Vineyard
Harvest Date
Hand picked 13th April 2022
Acid
8.0 g/l TA
pH
2.95
Bottling Date
2nd September 2022
Residual Sugar
11.83
Alcohol %
11.5
Wine Profile
Tasting Notes
Brown lime, pear juice and apple blossom fill the initial aromatics with a second wave of mandarin blossom, lemon sherbet, grapefruit and a hint of gardenia. There is underlying wet river stones and the faintest waft of petrichor. Lavender and lemon thyme complete the bouquet garni festoon.
The entry is all lime and grapefruit sprinkled with apple granita, some rose petal and lavender carry over. Juicy yet silky piquancy with a gentle phenolic core wrapped in a cloak of slippery sweetness against an equal quotient of tensile acidity. Hints of lemonade ice block and ruby grapefruit complete the long glossy finish.
Vineyard Notes
With lockdowns fading into history, we were back on the plane to Central Otago on a more regular basis from March 22 onward, just in time for harvest.
The growing season was generally kind with mild temperatures and rainfall spread throughout the calendar. There were a couple of cold nights in November with light frost but nothing to get too nervous about. December and January were warm with flowering and fruit set obliging to bring us back to better potential yields than 2020 and 2021. February cooled off a little before March delivered stellar growing conditions setting up a very good harvest, with ample yields and excellent natural grape chemistry. A couple of rain days through April took the dry March stress off the vineyards and ensured a well spaced harvest with a great spread of ripening dates across the Central Otago sub regions. In all a very seamless and potentially classic harvest.
Food Pairing Notes
Food – Pork Rillettes pre-lunch or a rich and spicy Laksa in the evening will do it.
Production
After something of a hiatus with Riesling it is great to return with a classic incarnation from the Vandermark Vineyard. This block sits high up on the upper terraces of Bendigo sub region of Central Otago. Given the 45° south latitude, halfway to the South Pole, elevation becomes a key driver of viticultural suitability and at 400m this vineyard is pushing the limits. The dry finish to the 22 harvest season ensured excellent ripening conditions with a long gentle wag in the tail giving great opportunity for flavour to build.
As we like to do, we stopped the fermentation with a little residual sweetness remaining to balance the endemic acidity we have come to expect in Central Otago. The result is a delicate dance between acid and sweetness which blurs the lines of dryness but creates a unique line of silky sumptuousness.