Pyramid Valley Chardonnay 2023
£31.45
The wine
Complex aromas of grilled nuts, citrus fruits, florals and a hint of lemon rind. Mouthwatering acidity drives the wine with laser focus, while flavours of citrus fruits and toasted nuts and a creamy texture give it body and weight. A classic North Canterbury Chardonnay, fully ripe and saline.
Chardonnay on clay over limestone, farmed biodynamically at altitude in a cool inland valley. Limestone is rare in New Zealand and the Weersings bought this land specifically for it. The wine is fermented with native yeasts and given long lees ageing, in a register far closer to Chablis than to the warmer New World.
The producer
Pyramid Valley
View all Pyramid Valley winesMike and Claudia Elze Weersing spent fifteen years looking for the right piece of land before buying this one at Waikari in North Canterbury in 2000. What drew them was limestone, which is rare in New Zealand and which they were convinced was essential for the wines they wanted to make.
The farm sits at altitude in a cool, dry inland valley, and the soils are clay over limestone. Both matter: clay holds water through a dry summer and restrains vigour, limestone gives the drainage and the mineral character. Farming is biodynamic, and the four home blocks, Angel Flower, Earth Smoke, Lion's Tooth and Field of Fire, are named after plants growing among the vines rather than after the family or the view.
Each block is farmed, fermented and bottled separately, which at this scale is an act of conviction rather than commerce. The wines have become some of the most sought-after in New Zealand, and the estate also draws on Central Otago fruit for the Snake's Tongue bottling.
