Saint Clair Family Estate has announced that its Omaka Reserve Chardonnay 2022 has been awarded gold at the 2024 Chardonnay du Monde wine competition. Selected from 579 wines across 33 countries, Saint Clair Family Estate was the only New Zealand producer to place with a gold medal in this year’s competition.
The Chardonnay du Monde hosted its 31st annual competition during March 10-15 at Château des Ravatys, at Saint-Lager in Burgundy, France. This renowned competition has claimed to recognise and award the world’s best Chardonnay wines.
Fruit for the gold medal-winning 2022 Omaka Reserve Chardonnay was sourced primarily from Saint Clair’s vineyard in Marlborough’s Omaka Valley, where a combination of warm days, cool nights, and clay-based soils contribute to greater fruit flavour retention. The wine was fermented in 14 percent new American oak barrels before experiencing a second malolactic fermentation and aged on lees for nine months.
Another Saint Clair wine awarded at this prestigious competition was the Saint Clair Pioneer Block 10 Twin Hills Chardonnay 2021, which placed with a silver medal alongside other renowned New Zealand producers Spy Valley and Trinity Hills.
"We’re thrilled to see Marlborough Chardonnay showing off on the world stage. The Omaka Reserve represents the best of the region, uniquely and boldly framed in American oak. While Block 10 Chardonnay is an offering of handpicked Omaka Valley Chardonnay, matured in French barriques," said senior winemaker, Stewart Maclennan.
"We sincerely hope these wines help introduce more of Marlborough’s best-kept secrets to the true Chardonnay aficionados out there.”
The Saint Clair Pioneer Block 10 Twin Hills Chardonnay 2021 was produced from an excellent vintage with outstanding quality fruit. This wine is fermented in 100 per cent French oak (33 per cent new oak barrels) and aged on lees for nine months before being selected for the final bottling.
Jarrah Prior, Saint Clair Family Estate’s GM Winegrowing has done an outstanding job out in the field, ensuring the Marlborough fruit ripens steadily throughout the growing season, showing great retention of fruit flavours year on year.
“Marlborough Chardonnay is really beginning to hit its strides. We now have mature vines with an amazing selection of clones that go into making these powerful, yet refined wines. We believe Marlborough Chardonnay can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the best of them, and it's great to see this come to fruition with these awards," said Prior.
"These wines are a culmination of a huge collective effort from the Saint Clair team - from those tending the vines, through oak maturation, until the final tweaks before going into bottle. Great people make great wine.”
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