Rabbit Chardonnay 2021
We've said it before and it needs to be mentioned again - the difference between a commercial wine and a better drop has little to do with grunt and much to do with subtlety. Chardonnay is a good example of this principle, but in a nation which values rugby, racing & plonk it can sound a bit pretentious. Anyway if you want something yellow, buttery and laced with vanilla you can still find examples in Nz.
At Coney we’re taking more care of the fruit for our Rabbit Chardonnay. Yes there’s some malo & some oak but it's carefully doled out. And we try to follow the French rule for Chablis of controlling yields to no more than 1.7 tonnes/acre and making sure we pick before the acids plummet & you’re left with some flabby concoction that even philistines would notice.
So, the 2021 issue is a Chablis style example - nice and crisp with some lemon loveliness, yet still retaining some soft lusciousness. If you screw your nose up to the right angle there’s also a slight charry character from the light oak treatment - what the French call gout de pierre a fusil (gunflint), take it or leave it.
Incidentally, so seductive is the 2021 that it's been known to cloud people's judgement. Take the latest grounding of the Interislander - here there are reports that the captain took his eye off the buoy while swigging from a bottle of Rabbit just before the lurch to starboard & subsequent grounding. Similar to the Russian Mikhail Lermontov years ago which involved vodka and wine before the vessel went to Davy Jones locker. Beware!
We've said it before and it needs to be mentioned again - the difference between a commercial wine and a better drop has little to do with grunt and much to do with subtlety. Chardonnay is a good example of this principle, but in a nation which values rugby, racing & plonk it can sound a bit pretentious. Anyway if you want something yellow, buttery and laced with vanilla you can still find examples in Nz.
At Coney we’re taking more care of the fruit for our Rabbit Chardonnay. Yes there’s some malo & some oak but it's carefully doled out. And we try to follow the French rule for Chablis of controlling yields to no more than 1.7 tonnes/acre and making sure we pick before the acids plummet & you’re left with some flabby concoction that even philistines would notice.
So, the 2021 issue is a Chablis style example - nice and crisp with some lemon loveliness, yet still retaining some soft lusciousness. If you screw your nose up to the right angle there’s also a slight charry character from the light oak treatment - what the French call gout de pierre a fusil (gunflint), take it or leave it.
Incidentally, so seductive is the 2021 that it's been known to cloud people's judgement. Take the latest grounding of the Interislander - here there are reports that the captain took his eye off the buoy while swigging from a bottle of Rabbit just before the lurch to starboard & subsequent grounding. Similar to the Russian Mikhail Lermontov years ago which involved vodka and wine before the vessel went to Davy Jones locker. Beware!
We've said it before and it needs to be mentioned again - the difference between a commercial wine and a better drop has little to do with grunt and much to do with subtlety. Chardonnay is a good example of this principle, but in a nation which values rugby, racing & plonk it can sound a bit pretentious. Anyway if you want something yellow, buttery and laced with vanilla you can still find examples in Nz.
At Coney we’re taking more care of the fruit for our Rabbit Chardonnay. Yes there’s some malo & some oak but it's carefully doled out. And we try to follow the French rule for Chablis of controlling yields to no more than 1.7 tonnes/acre and making sure we pick before the acids plummet & you’re left with some flabby concoction that even philistines would notice.
So, the 2021 issue is a Chablis style example - nice and crisp with some lemon loveliness, yet still retaining some soft lusciousness. If you screw your nose up to the right angle there’s also a slight charry character from the light oak treatment - what the French call gout de pierre a fusil (gunflint), take it or leave it.
Incidentally, so seductive is the 2021 that it's been known to cloud people's judgement. Take the latest grounding of the Interislander - here there are reports that the captain took his eye off the buoy while swigging from a bottle of Rabbit just before the lurch to starboard & subsequent grounding. Similar to the Russian Mikhail Lermontov years ago which involved vodka and wine before the vessel went to Davy Jones locker. Beware!