TASTING NOTES FOR Dog Point Chardonnay Marlborough New Zealand 2023

🍷 Appearance
Pale straw with bright golden-green highlights and excellent clarity. Youthful and vibrant in the glass, reflecting the precision and intensity of this premium Marlborough Chardonnay.

👃 Aromas
Complex and expressive, with lemon, citrus zest and stone fruit layered with distinctive flint and smoky notes. Toast, biscuit, roasted nuts and subtle spice provide additional complexity from extended barrel maturation.

👅 Palate
Focused, vibrant and beautifully structured, delivering concentrated citrus and orchard fruit with impressive freshness. Bright acidity provides drive and precision, while flinty minerality, subtle oak and savoury lees characters add considerable depth.

🍈 Texture & Finish
Medium-bodied with a wonderfully textural, finely layered palate. A distinctive saline quality combines with crisp acidity and subtle creamy richness, leading to a long, mineral-driven finish with lingering citrus, toast and flint.

🍇 Overall Style
A sophisticated and distinctive Marlborough Chardonnay combining citrus purity, smoky reduction, saline minerality and beautifully controlled oak. The wine was whole-bunch pressed and matured for 18 months in French oak, with only 10% new barrels, helping preserve freshness while building texture and complexity.

🍽️ Food Pairing
Perfect with scallops, grilled white fish, roast chicken, barbecue pork, lobster, creamy seafood dishes and roast poultry.

⭐ BBD Verdict
An outstanding Marlborough Chardonnay with serious character and sophistication. Citrus-driven and beautifully fresh, yet layered with flint, toast, subtle oak and saline minerality. It has impressive structure and length and should develop superbly with careful cellaring. A Chardonnay for those who enjoy elegance, complexity and genuine personality.

Cheers
Peter Turnbull
Better Buy The Dozen 🍷