Patrick Underwood - Dash Farms Chardonnay

This Chardonnay comes from Dash Farms, a fave of Pat’s, and we know it well. Planted in 1999 in Harcourt, where vines grow in soils of granite, quartz and sand, a combination that brings both tension and texture to the wine.

The long, cool 2023 season allowed the fruit to ripen gradually, though Pat chose to harvest slightly earlier to preserve the balance between fruit weight and freshness. In the winery the grapes were foot-crushed before a slow, gentle press and overnight settling, before being transferred to tank for a cool fermentation.

Pat prefers this approach for the long, healthy fermentation arc it encourages, allowing the wine to build complexity naturally. After fermentation, the wine underwent partial malolactic conversion and aged for 12 months in barrel before racking and bottling in January 2025.