One of the most well known varieties of them all, Chardonnay might be synonymous with some wine regions further north but even with the success of cool-climate Chardonnays, it hasn't always had a charmed life in Central Otago.
Though, for Tony and Joan Lawrence, who established Aurum wines in 1997 at the 45th Parallel Vineyard on an elevated site near Pisa Moorings, Chardonnay was integral to their original plans and one of their favourite varieties.
"The 45th was quite a big Chardonnay block." says Tony, "Though it was a difficult grape that took a long time to get established and kept getting frosted, we got some lovely fruit off that block."
When the Lawrence's sold that vineyard to establish the nearby Te Wairere Vineyard in 2001, they lost their Chardonnay, but not their commitment to have another go at growing it. Gradually planting out their site as they went, it wasn't until their son Brook a viticulturist returned from France in 2004 with his wife Lucie, a third generation Burgundian winemaker that the subject of Chardonnay was firmly on the agenda again.
"It definitely means a lot to me," says Lucie. "I come from Burgundy and Pinot Noir and Chardonnay just go hand in hand. As a winemaker it hurt not to have those grapes, but we knew we could plant again and it was fun choosing what clone we were going to plant and how we were going to do it."
Based on their prior knowledge and success, the decision was made five years ago to have another go using 100% Mendoza. As the last block to be planted, the vines are at the far end of the vineyard which in itself has created some additional hurdles, especially for Tony who took on the Chardonnay vines as his pet project.
"It is early and as it at the very end of our frost fighting range, it gets less water than the rest of the vineyard and is more prone to frost. We were not able to get an under-vine mower in there either, so the young vines really struggled in the grass and got even more frosted. To say that it has been a battle to get these things up and underway would be an understatement."
The mere mention of planting organically in soil that hadn't been tilled is enough to coax a big laugh out of Tony, but that is exactly what happened.
"Well generally with organic, you would go non-organic for the first few years with weed spraying and adding nitrogen to get things going, but we decided in the integrity of being organic that we should start from scratch, so that just created a real problem of getting the jolly things to grow."
For the first couple of years frost was the major issue, and with two-budded vines on the ground attracting the cold, there were numerous set-backs and some re-planting. Even so, both Tony and Lucie reckon that they have only lost one crop year and have now proved that they can do it, even if it has taken a herculean effort of patience and fortitude.
"I have looked after them as if they are my babies," says Tony laughing, "and they have all been weed-eated by me. I actually worked out that by the time I did that 10 times in a season, in five years I have actually weeded from Cromwell to Dunedin down one road verge...and that's walking backwards."
Whatever the maths, that certainly is a lot of mileage to be on the end of a weed-eater and Tony's calculations don't stop there either. In his many hours walking backwards up and down the 12 Chardonnay rows, he has had plenty of time to ruminate on the economy of growing his favourite variety.
"It works out to a metre of walking backwards per gram of grapes that we got this year. If I worked out the cost per bottle, I'd probably be looking at something like $20,000 a bottle...but it will get cheaper next year!"
Not dissimilar to the reverence exuded over a newborn baby, both Tony and Lucie stare at the miniature barrel sitting inside a shipping container with a look that is a mixture of pride and bewilderment. The excitement for Lucie now watching the wine fermenting is pretty evident, even if their first harvest isn't exactly huge.
"Yeah, it's really exciting...all 300 kilograms of it! Not every vineyard here is able to grow Chardonnay, so when you find the right patch it's really rewarding. The result is an incredibly balanced wine, a really great expression of the grape but only if you are gentle with it and treat it correctly. If nothing goes wrong we should get at least a tonne next year and then it will start getting interesting."
Aside from the obvious exultation knowing they are finally making Chardonnay once again, Lucie had an additional hurdle to overcome posed by the small amount of grapes.
"It was a really quick pick so that was good...but once it was pressed I knew it was too pathetic to fill up a barrel. Then I opened up my emails and there was a message from a company who sell 100 litre barrels, so it was obviously meant to be. It's really cute isn't it and the photo of that little barrel has generated the most hits our Facebook page has ever had."
At an estimated production of just 20 cases for their first vintage of Chardonnay from this site, the answer is pretty simple when questioned on what will happen to these special bottles.
"We'll drink them ourselves of course".
