Mt Difficulty Ghost Town Lowburn Valley Chardonnay 2019

Mt Difficulty Ghost Town Lowburn Valley Chardonnay 2019French oak Toasted stonefruit Nougat & brioche Fine acidity "Quite a complex bouquet with core aromas of clay and stone then lightly toasted stone fruits of peach and apricot then apple and barrel spices. Theres a gun flint and fine lees scent adding complexity and intrigue. Lovely weight and tension on the palate with a flinty grapefruit and peach flavours then lees, apple and mineral suggestions. A decent acid line with fine wood tannins and

• French oak
• Toasted stonefruit
• Nougat & brioche
• Fine acidity

"Quite a complex bouquet with core aromas of clay and stone then lightly toasted stone fruits of peach and apricot then apple and barrel spices. There’s a gun-flint and fine lees scent adding complexity and intrigue. Lovely weight and tension on the palate with a flinty grapefruit and peach flavours then lees, apple and mineral suggestions. A decent acid line with fine wood tannins and mouthfeel that highlights the flinty mineral attributes. Lovely long finish, balanced and well made. Drinking well from 2021 through 2026+" Cameron Douglas, Master Sommelier, Sep 2021

"Rich, quite creamy Chardonnay with peach, vanilla, spicy oak and subtle oyster-shell flavours. An attractive wine that achieves a good balance between fruit sweetness and tangy acidity" Bob Campbell, Master of Wine, Real Review, Apr 2021

Ghost Town Chardonnay is handcrafted in very limited quantities. Generous aromas of peach, naval orange and meyer lemons with acacia blossom and a touch of brioche in the background lead to a creamy, and textural palate. Integrated nougat oak, with subtle spice and hints of flint are showcased on the palate. A fine, precise acidity flows through the wine to a persistent finish. We expect this wine to evolve with careful cellaring for another 5-7 years.

The Ghost Town wines are an exploration of the unique character of Central Otago sub-regions beyond our home in Bannockburn. Central Otago is dotted with the deserted relics of a mining era bygone. These wines are a nod to those miners who came following fortune and left behind small parcels off our Lowburn vineyards showcasing a diversity of soils and microclimates.

A vintage of variability, contrasts and many different phases of weather through the growing season. A normal to warm start to the season was interrupted by a cold snap and snowfall mid-November. Weather over flowering was patchy, but overall flowering was successful. An oddity during summer this year was warmer nights and cooler days. This gives the appearance of a warmer season that it really was. There was a significant amount of early season rainfall, right through to the end of January. Cool and very dry conditions prevailed through February when verasion occurs - slowing that phase of ripening down. The heat and regular rainfall did reappear in March and then finally a very cool and lengthy final ripening phase through April.

The fruit for our Ghost Town Chardonnay was hand-picked over three passes at peak ripeness on the 4th, 12th and 24th of April. The fruit was handled in an oxidative fashion, destemmed and pressed straight to barrel. We fermented 100% of the juice in barrel with full solids using indigenous yeasts. 14% new French oak was used for the wines maturation, whilst maturing no lees stirring was utilised. The wine went through a full malolactic fermentation in spring, after which the barrels were stirred for a period. The wine was racked from barrel and filtered before being racked to tank to settle prior to being bottled, unfined, in November.