Scout Southern Valleys Marlborough Chardonnay 2019 $34 
This debut Marlborough chardonnay from the young, talented, winemaking twosome of Sarah Adamson and Greg Lane is crafted from clone 548 grapes, that were handpicked from their mate Josh Hammond’s vineyard in the Fairhall district and pressed as whole bunches into a combo of oak puncheons (500lt) and barriques (225lt) for a natural ferment. For an extra smidge of texture, a small portion was also fermented on its skins and the result, after the wine all went through a delicious disco dance of malolactic fermentation, is a stone fruit saturated, softly spiced chardonnay stitched together with threads of minerality and salinity. It’s a sip-think sip-think wine that I really like.
