Careful work during tricky vintage results in Champion Chardonnay trophy

Alongside taking the QuayConnect Champion Wine of the Show at the 2023 Marlborough Wine Show, sponsored by QuayConnect, Isabel Estate had big success with Chardonnay, picking up two trophies with the variety.  

Taking home the Bragato Research Institute Champion Chardonnay, current vintage trophy was the Isabel Estate Marlborough Wild Barrique Chardonnay 2022.

Chief winemaker Jeremy ‘Macca’ McKenzie shares the story of the wine, the icon variety of the Estate…

Isabel Estate picked up both Chardonnay trophies at the wine show this year, and it’s not the first year you’ve received a trophy at the Show for the Wild Barrique label. What is special about your Wild Barrique Chardonnay?

As with all Isabel Estate wines, these epitomise the true provenance single vineyard story, being that they are estate produced and estate bottled. The Wild Barrique has a strong history dating back to 2016. It is made with fruit from both our Block 3 and Block 1 Mendoza clones, with 35-38-year-old vines. Block 3 is farmed organically. For this wine, the winemaking is very hands-off and we use a “Pied de Cuve” starter culture, which is added to the barrels. There is so much intrigue to the wine and it captures you with its flinty aromatics, long complex palate and layers of flavour. People often think it has a lot more oak than it actually does. The style is very complete and people can be assured every year they will see these hallmarks shine through.

Were there any standout features of this vintage that helped it become the success it is?

Interestingly enough, 2022 was quite a difficult vintage and Chardonnay is tough to get right in any vintage. Luckily, with naturally low yields we were able to pick our Chardonnay parcels prior to any rain and disease events, which is critical to our desired winemaking process. This is becoming increasingly difficult with the Mendoza clone being farmed organically and its “hen & chicken” bunch architecture, so it was a case of spending a lot of time in the vineyard and with the hand-pick crew to ensure we got the quality. 2022 did allow fruit with lovely acidity which I froth over when making Chardonnay.

Chardonnay is a variety you’ve had a lot of success with in recent years. When did the variety become a focus for Isabel and why?  

There is significant history at Isabel Estate with making quality Chardonnay, even before I started in October 2014, close to 10 years ago now. As an example, back in the late ‘80s, David Honen from Cloudy Bay had access to parcels of the Mendoza clone of Chardonnay from the Estate and while I was at Villa Maria in 2010 we accessed similar parcels. I had always been impressed by the Chardonnay and the Pinot Noir from the Estate and gold medal wines for Isabel Estate Chardonnay date back to the late ‘90s. One can't deny that the vine material is special at the Estate and hence why we were able to recreate the desired wine style in two years, winning Champion Wine of Show at the Air New Zealand Wine Awards in 2017 by reinvigorating vineyard health and rebuilding our French oak barrel program. Even though we have had amazing success in the recent show with our Pinot Noir, it is Chardonnay which is undoubtedly the icon wine variety of the Estate. We have launched a Limited Release Icon Chardonnay and Pinot Noir under our Isabel Estate “Aratoro” label, meaning Pathway for Discovery, which is exciting!

Chardonnay appears to be gaining popularity both here in New Zealand and across the world - would you agree with this and if so, why do you think that is?

Totally agree. Isabel Estate is part of the Paragon wine group with sister wineries being Oakridge (Yarra Valley), Cape Mentelle (Western Australia) and Joseph Chromy (Tasmania). These wineries/regions and makers, particularly David Bicknell at Oakridge, are masters at Chardonnay so there is a healthy culture in the broader team to showcase style from these regions which I love.

Across New Zealand and more broadly in a world sense, there is a love for White Burgundy and Chablis which are readily sought after. These wines are in short supply and garner elevated prices so when you can deliver New Zealand chardonnay at potentially Burgundy quality but at half the price there is an inherent desire.

Outside of Marlborough, at Isabel Estate we love Kumeu River, Villa Maria Keltern Vineyard, Neudorf and Bell Hill, which are all from different New Zealand regions, doing amazing stuff. We can't endorse Marlborough Chardonnay enough and encourage growers/wineries to maintain these old chardonnay parcels as they are so special!