Cedalion Single Vineyard Chardonnay Arae Waiheke Island, 2016

Cedalion are super premium, hand crafted, lovingly made wines with no expense spared. Grapes for this single vineyard wine come from a small spectacular plot in Church Bay on Waiheke Island. Vines are planted on a mix of clay and limestone on a south-west facing slope on the west coast of Waiheke. 2016 was the lowest yielding vintage Sam ever experienced on Waiheke. The wine is of exceptional elegance, pale lime in colour, it has some savoury notes with yogurt and fruit, Rainier cherries, a hint of vanilla, peach and a slight floral whiff. On the palate, more citrus notes emerge with lemon and mandarin followed by fresh apple and vanilla. It is crisp and pure with a linear structure. Despite several years in bottle at the time of tasting, it is a mere babe and has a great future ahead of it.