Les Beaux Cailloux 2024

Craggy Range, tasting note (craggyrange.com – linket fra craggyrange.com, hentet 2026-10-19): 2024 Craggy Range Les Beaux Cailloux – område: Hawke's Bay; druer: Chardonnay; alkohol 13.5%; 11 måneder på fad. Producentens noter (engelsk): 2024 Les Beaux Cailloux GIMBLETT GRAVELS, HAWKE’S BAY Sourced from select blocks, Les Beaux Cailloux (the beautiful pebbles) is our most pure, complex and refined Chardonnay. We look for restraint in our winemaking of this varietal, and believe it reflects both our style and the distinct terroir it comes from. The minerality, savouriness and energy of this wine are entirely unique - attributed to the concentration of stones and our considered farming approach. TASTING NOTE Pale straw in colour. The nose is intense and expressive, revealing layers of lemon curd and fresh zest, roasted hazelnut, brioche and nectarine. The palate flows effortlessly, yet is underpinned by a striking salinity and chalkiness that bring freshness and definition. Savoury nuances intertwine seamlessly with citrus flavours, creating superb balance and length. A wine that speaks clearly of site and vintage, capturing the distinctive Gimblett Gravels terroir and our signature style. VINTAGE & WINEMAKING Two Chardonnay parcels stood apart this vintage: an eastern, low vigour section of Block 34 (Mendoza clone) handpicked on the 27th February, followed soon after by fruit from a similarly low-vigour parcel of Block 40 (clone 95). The fruit was whole-bunch pressed to stainless steel for ambient settling overnight, before being racked to French oak for fermentation in one new barrique and two puncheons with indigenous yeast. Lees from the previous Les Beaux Cailloux vintage were collected and added to the barrels pre-ferment. A warm fermentation followed by full spring malolactic. The wine was then aged for 11 months in oak on full lees, without stirring, before being racked to stainless steel for the final four months on light lees prior to bottling in June 2025. The wine was not fined, and received a coarse filtration before bottling. ALCOHOL 13.5 PH 3.23 ACIDITY 5.72g/L 2024