2021 Chardonnay, Dog Point, Marlborough, New Zealand
£125 per 6 bottle case in bond
In terms of Chardonnay of this quality at this price-point, it is a real stand-out
Simon Larkin MW
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Every year I buy a couple of cases of Dog Point Chardonnay and every year I tell myself I will try to hold onto six bottles and age them for up to a decade. And every year I fail as I find Dog Point such an appealing wine in its youth. That said, I sourced a case of 2011 and finished my last bottle a year or so ago, so I know this wine is deceptive and can age. The 2011 surprised just about everyone I served it to, and no-one placed it in New Zealand. The 2021 represents another success for the estate; they have only gone and done it again.
The 2021 has barely been reviewed yet, so I was interested to taste this morning. I had read the vintage reports on Jancis Robinson’s hugely informative website, where it was suggested that the 2021 vintage was ‘small but perfectly formed’. The vintage was termed a drought year and issues at flowering reduced crop size, but I was encouraged when I read: “The good news is that all varieties show great promise in terms of quality in such volumes as there are, with concentration in the Pinot Noir, great balance in the Chardonnay, and intensity and balance in the Sauvignon Blanc.”
Tasting this morning, I can report that the 2021 Chardonnay is superb – great concentration of fruit, real tension, and a brightness on the finish. It ticks all the boxes. Another two cases will find their way into my cellar. How long they linger there is anyone’s guess! I have said it on many occasions before, but in terms of Chardonnay of this quality at this price-point, it is a real stand-out.
Based on plantings first made in the 1970s, Dog Point is an organic estate situated where the Brancott and Omaka Valleys meet to the west of Blenheim. When I worked a vintage in Marlborough way back in 2000, I quickly learned the names of Ivan Sutherland and James Healy, partly as they were both major players in Marlborough and both played a role in the development of Cloudy Bay, but also as they had been purchasing vineyard just along from where I was staying. The Sutherlands and the Healys came together to found the ‘Dog Point’ label in 2004. The name comes from the fact that when the earliest Europeans settled in the area and kept sheep, boundary riders used dogs to protect their flocks. Some of the dogs ventured off and bred in the wild, attacking flocks to survive. Long after the dogs were removed, the area kept the name of ‘Dog Point’.
The Chardonnay vines date back to 1981 and are grown on silty clay loam soils. Given the founders' background and experience, it is no surprise that good Chardonnay clones were planted at the outset and cropping is kept low. The fruit is bunch-pressed and fermented in oak barrels, of which just 10% are new wood; this allows the lively fresh fruit to be well-expressed without being overshadowed. The wines rely on indigenous yeast to trigger fermentation and undergo malolactic fermentation in oak. The oak in Dog Point Chardonnay is never obtrusive, and is barely picked up on, instead it is the smoky mineral notes that add complexity to the fruit as well as that ‘struck match’ character that contributes to a particular Burgundian style.
A little more on the winemaking if you wanted to understand the approach….if not skip to the tasting note below!
This character, sometimes described by tasters as ‘struck match’, ‘struck flint’, ‘smoky bacon fat’ or ‘toasted nut’ is a by-product of what is known as ‘reductive winemaking’, which is an approach that seeks to exclude oxygen during ageing, resulting in these ‘reduced’ sulphide notes that we try to describe. The word ‘reduction’ in winemaking is the opposite of oxidation, in that it is a chemical reaction that involves a dissociation from oxygen. To produce a wine in a reductive Burgundian style, you choose older oak for ageing as the pores of the wood are closed to oxygen, and you do not rack the wine (empty the vessel and refill), nor do you practise lees-stirring or batonnage (when the fine yeasty deposit is agitated in the barrel). It is a less interventionist style of winemaking in many respects. Since issues concerning wines oxidising early have caused some concern with certain Burgundian estates, the general trend has certainly headed towards this style of winemaking. And it is not just Burgundians that employ these techniques; we have seen a whole host of New World producers adopt the same approach. It is a distinct stylistic decision that seeks to employ a technique that is widely used in Burgundy. It doesn’t always work well; I think the wines need to have a good structure for it to be successful and that means a taut minerally acidity. I have tasted some disappointing, loose-knit styles that fail to convince and come across as mere caricatures. However, the Dog Point Chardonnay is a particularly successful example of the reductive style and offers striking value for money.
2021 Chardonnay, Dog Point, Marlborough, New Zealand
£125 per 6 bottle case in bond
With a little time in the glass, the nose really starts to open. It is clear the fruit is admirably ripe with limey, nectarine fruit behind a veil of smoky bacon and toasted nut. It is on the palate that this really comes alive in a way that the best vintages of Dog Point do: there is a lively, almost chalky mineral vein and bright acidity that lends structure, definition to an exuberant, juicy palate of stone and citrus fruit. Beautifully ripe fruit and assured winemaking combine to create such an appealing Chardonnay with a leesy complexity to its lingering limey fruit. Long on the finish, this is clearly a very fine Dog Point, again. (SL) Drink: 2024-2032 (if you have the willpower).
