Greywacke Chardonnay Marlborough 2011 – $$$
To celebrate the end of our three day juice cleanse, I met a couple of mates for a glass or two of Conehead, a fresh-hopped ale from the Tuatara Brewery produced as part of the Hopstock craft beer festival (an annual event where Wellington brewers produce specialty beers using new-season fresh hops to celebrate the Nelson hop harvest). The beer was fruity and bitter, with a top note of passionfruit.
Then I met L and we went off to GrillMeatsBeer for a meal out. The restaurant name says it all really. But we split a bottle of Greywacke Marlborough Chardonnay instead.
This was a real show wine. Brilliant colour. Impressive at first. Lots of body and power. Mealiness and a strong buttery character. Hefty flavours of golden stonefruit.
And lots of oak. Lots and lots, and lots, of oak. Too much oak. New oak. It got way too overpowering for us after a while. Half a glass of this wine each would have been fun and fine. But a whole bottle? Way too much. I only finished it cos I was brought up that way…
Should have scored better, due it’s provenance…BTG 3+
