The Nautilus Chardonnay is a unique white wine. This New Zealand Chardonnay is robust and boasts a complex array of pleasant aromas. It is a Marlborough oak-aged white wine with a tight, mineral structure in its youth, developing a creamy texture with age. The wine can be aged for three to five years.
Nautilus from New Zealand
Production is handled by Nautilus Estate. The winery dates back to 1986 and is owned by the renowned Australian quality producer Yalumba. Nautilus Estate owns its own vineyards but also sources grapes for this Chardonnay, among other things, from contract growers. The winery consists of a small team, with everyone closely involved in winemaking from start to finish. Clive Jones is the winemaker, and thanks to the small team, he can fully focus on winemaking. His goal is to preserve the distinctive fruit character of the soil and thus introduce more complex aromas and flavors into his wine.
The bottle features a shell: the Nautilus shell. The mathematically perfect spiral of this shell has been admired since ancient Greek times. This shape can be found everywhere in nature: in the growth of seeds on a sunflower head, in the air movement of a cyclone, or in the spiral through which a hawk flies to its prey. The winery aims to express this natural balance and proportions in its wines. And they have achieved this magnificently with this Chardonnay.
The aroma and taste of the Nautilus Chardonnay
The grapes for this Chardonnay are hand-picked and chilled overnight before being gently pressed into the barrel without settling. The wine is then vinified using modern methods and matured for ten months in French oak barrels. This process allows the wine to develop its brilliant straw-yellow color with intriguing aromas of figs and melon, along with notes of cashew and biscuit. Its robust flavor structure gives the wine a wonderfully long finish.