The Marlborist Marlborough Chardonnay 2020 $50 
Look out Marlborough wine fans, there’s a new brand in town. Two years of development by three wine industry old-hands, good chums and crazy risk-takers led to ‘The Marlborist’ project being launched in mid-2020. The debut pinot noir and sauvignon blanc by David Nash, Stuart Dudley and Rich Ellis sold out straight away, but happily, there’s still a splishy splash of chardonnay still on offer. Hand-harvested Mendoza clone fruit was sourced from the Lloyds Vineyard in Rapaura and blended with smaller amounts of clone 95 and clone 15 chardonnay from the Wrekin and Forrest Vineyards in the Brancott Valley. Wild fermented, with 100% malo and 11months in oak has resulted in a richly structured, toasty-yet-tropical, creamy, almond-edged example that roars with life. Delicious! Themarlborist.com
The team commissioned an artist to create three separate images of iconic Marlborough scenes to represent each variety. The Chardonnay features the native Marlborough Rock Daisy overlooking the Sounds, the Grande Sauvignon shows Marlborough Surf Clams (Cloudy Bay Clams) in the Sounds and a stag on the (Southern Valley) hills for the Pinot Noir…
