Paired with Baked Brie with honey, walnuts and thyme in the NZ Herald Canvas Drinks matches Sept 9th 2023
Trinity Hill 125 The Gimblett Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2021 $80 
Deeply golden in the glass, this roasty, toasty, citrus-centric chardonnay was hand-harvested fruit from Trinity’s “Tin Shed” vineyard, gently pressed then fermented with wild yeasts in a combo of new French oak 228 – and 500-litre barriques and puncheons. The wine then ticked into a malolactic fermentation to add creamy complexity and soften the textures before spending a quiet, sleepy, 14 months on its yeast lees just because it could. The result is a chardonnay that’s rich, creamy, and self-assured with a grilled grapefruit and almond core and a generously proportioned finish. I’d love to taste it again in another year or three.
