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89POINTS
16¼/20
Hester Creek Chardonnay 2019
Golden Mile Bench, Oliver, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, CanadaI love how this wine continues to evolve. It’s a big chardonnay with a svelteness that belies its flavours. Fresh, honeyed, and lemony with peaches, orange, and cream corn before flashing its mineral Golden Mile Bench mid-palate, through its toasty, fine lees finish. It’s estate sourced from handpicked fruit off Block 17, a low yielding site planted to Burgundy clones 76 and 809. The free run juice is cold settled for five days. Post ferment, the barrels are stirred weekly, until the malolactic fermentation is complete. One third is barrel fermented in French oak, and two thirds is fermented in stainless steel, where it is aged and stirred on fine lees for eight months. It’s an overt style but not without a touch of restraint. Try this with Dungeness crab, halibut, or lobster, and just for fun, gnocchi and pancetta. The overall Growing Degree Days (GDD) were 1598, above the 20 year average of 1474. Seasonally averaged temperatures with few heat spikes in the summer resulted in an even growing season.Tasted: 28 August 2020Tasted by: Anthony GismondiPrices:| BC | $21.99 | 750ml | winery online/direct, select private retailers |
Grape: ChardonnayCSPC: 467258UPC: 626037001096
