NEW ZEALAND WIDE SHIPPING INCLUDED
Organic. Initially planted by Fromm in 1996, the Folium Vineyard lies in Marlborough’s Brancott Valley. Since 2011, this beautiful site has been owned and organically tended by purist Takaki Okada, who lives in a little house in the middle of his vines. The dirt here is Southern Valley clay, around 1.5 metres deep and sits on top of gravelly silt. These soils retain sufficient moisture during the dry summers to balance the growth of the vines without the need for irrigation. Corofin only gets to work with five rows (1,200 vines).
Mike explains that the Chardonnay from this dry-grown site delivers the holy trinity of “ripeness, precision and harmony”, reflecting Takaki’s sensitive farming practices and the vineyard’s ungrafted, deep-rooted vines. The winemaking mirrors that for the Wrekin, although here all the juice was barrel-fermented in two 500-litre seasoned French oak puncheons.
There’s lots of juicy citrus and white nectarine alongside white pepper, fresh ginger, and a little ocean spray. It’s a mouth-filling and textured wine, slightly richer than the Wrekin Vineyard but equally well-balanced and finely structured. A little twist of mandarin bitterness rounds things off.
“This is quite powerful and bold, with pear, peach and citrus fruit. There’s a lovely fruit intensity here with a touch of grapefruit and good acidity sitting under the bold fruit. Very fine with some nice toastiness in the background, and notes of meal and spice from well-judged oak. This is a really lovely Chardonnay with focus and depth, and it should age beautifully.” 95 points, Jamie Goode, Wine Anorak
“From a non-irrigated vineyard in the heart of the Brancott Valley. Rich, ripe and concentrated chardonnay with white peach, ginger, vanilla, lime, citrus and spicy oak flavours. A mellow, mouth-watering wine from a top vintage.” 94 points, Bob Campbell, The Real Review
