During this extraordinary time, days seem to contain more pauses for thought than before. At Gusbourne, we have been reflecting on our past vintages - how they change, develop and the contrasts as well as similarities between them.
Inspired by this, we are releasing a series of vintage pairs for you to taste. They offer a fascinating comparison to our most recently released wines and highlight the subtle differences between the still and sparkling versions of the same grape variety. This is the second in our Vintage Pair series. Explore our first pair from 2013 here.
Both Chardonnay Guinevere 2014 and Blanc de Blancs 2014 are excellent expressions of Chardonnay from a warmer vintage.
In its youth, our Chardonnay Guinevere 2014 was full, ripe and broad on the palate, with generous fruit and creamy oak notes. As it has aged, there’s a beautiful elegance developing, with less overt fruit and a little more minerality showing through.
This is a barrel fermented Chardonnay, made exclusively from Burgundian clones. It was aged in barrel for 6 months after fermentation, using mostly old barrels, which impart a subtle oak character, creating creamy, buttery notes to frame the ripe stone and citrus fruit.
Our Blanc de Blancs 2014 showed a real generosity of fruit in its youth. This is starting to give way to something more tertiary, with the wine beginning to show more toasty, nutty and creamy notes from ageing on the lees and cork.
It still retains the generous fruit of its youth, with riper citrus notes and nuances of pear and nectarine. The palate is full and round, with toasted nuts and notes of freshly baked bread. On the finish, the wine still retains a real freshness and salty mineral note too.
As you might expect from a warmer vintage, these wines are holding their generous fruit notes whilst now starting to evolve into even more exciting and complex examples of Chardonnay. They are both softer, riper styles and really show what Chardonnay can achieve in the warmer microclimate of our vineyards.
All of our wines receive complimentary delivery to all mainland UK destinations with no minimum order requirement.
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