Cuvée Aux Antipodes Blanc 2022

The nose opens with beautiful white floral aromas, white peach and mandarin.  The palate continues the white peach, and orange citrus, backed up with notes of brioche and macadamia – supported with a subtle lick of and well-integrated oak.  The wine has a backbone of stoney acidity and oyster shell-like minerality, tying everything together, and leading to a long and graceful finish.

The 2022 Cuvée Aux Antipodes Blanc is a magnificent triumph of yields. Where previously this 1.8-hectare plot produced anywhere from six to eight barrels of wine, the 2022 produced 23 barrels of wine—very exciting for followers of this cuvée. On the nose, the wine is showing its youth, but far from being inchoate, it is long and polished through the very long finish. It’s got lashings of stone fruit and preserved citrus, white pepper, star anise, shaved fennel, juniper and cold buttered toast. This is a wonderful wine of potential and kaleidoscopic complexity, although it is far tighter and more compact than previous years. Searingly good.”
Erin Larkin, Wine Advocate, 96+ points

This Chardonnay is a collaboration between Prophet’s Rock winemaker Paul Pujol and esteemed French winemaker François Millet from Chambolle-Musigny, Burgundy. Former winemaker at Comte George de Vogüé for 35 vintages, François continues to make wine in Burgundy with his family under ‘François Millet et Fils’ and with us in New Zealand.

The grapes were sourced from the small one hectare Chardonnay block on our Kopuwai Delta vineyard, located in the Pisa sub-region of Central Otago. This site has a mix of glacial and alluvial soil. Meticulous viticulture and the site’s low-elevation help to ensure full ripeness and concentration. Cellaring will reward collectors over the next 10+ years from vintage.

Only 23 barrels were made.

Winemaker’s Notes

“This wine is the reflect of the Clutha River flowing just below, mineral, transparent and luminous. There is nothing exotic, “artificial” or “made up” about the expression of this wine. That shows again the link between what is emanating from the land, the feeling you have from it and the expression of the wines.” – François Millet.

All elements of the winemaking are directed by François who has formed a consistent approach to this parcel since 2018.

A strong focus on viticulture is the foundation of the winemaking approach. Yields are consistently managed to 25-30hl/ha or approximately 3.5-4ton/ha.

The handpicked fruit is whole-bunch pressed and fermented in barrel using only indigenous ‘wild’ yeast. The wine then spends 17 months in barrel (16% new) and undergoes indigenous malolactic fermentation. The wine is bottled unfiltered under Diam cork.

Decant for full expression in its youth and cellar with confidence for 10+ years from vintage.    

 

 

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Details

Type:

White

Varietal:

Chardonnay

Region:

Central Otago

Appellation:

Cromwell/Lowburn/Pisa

Vintage:

2022