2021 Corofin Wrekin Vineyard Chardonnay

• Producer: Corofin
• Varietal: Chardonnay
• Region: Marlborough
• Net volume: 750ml
• Vintage: 2021

Organic. Planted in 2002, the Wrekin Vineyard is a small, organically certified (Biogro) and biodynamically farmed site at the top of the Brancott Valley, almost in its own locality. It’s an excellent site for Corofin, providing both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay with “exceptional individuality and quality”, according to Paterson. Owned by Jan and Andrew Johns and farmed by Jeremy Highland, Wrekin sits in the lee of the scarps of the Southern Valley foothills on clay-rich soils laid over greywacke mother rock. Orientated northeast and planted at 4,000 vines per hectare (to moderate vigour), it’s also one of the highest vineyards in the valley, producing fruit that is often the last to be harvested each year.

Crops were minuscule in 2021, with the Wrekin Vineyard giving up meagre yields of just 25 hl/ha. Hand-harvested on the 6th of March, the winemaking mirrors the Marlborough Chardonnay, but here the wine was raised in two 500-litre seasoned French oak puncheons. 

With each passing vintage, Mike and Anna Paterson further cement their fledgling domaine among New Zealand’s most exciting up-and-comers. Having spent the majority of their working years in and about Marlborough, Mike and Anna have no doubt regarding the potential of their adopted region and were well placed to approach their first choice of vineyards. Indeed, Paterson’s selection of sites reflects both a winemaker’s enthusiasm for Marlborough’s Southern Valley hillside vineyards plus the dedication of certain grape growers whose vineyards he believes ‘act as a beacon of Marlborough individuality’. In a region where (traditionally) money talks and terroir walks, Mike and Anna Paterson’s Corofin project is carving out a terrific reputation by fashioning exceptional wines of place from the finest hillside vineyards of Marlborough’s Southern Valleys.

Established in 2011. Corofin is a tiny operation, working with a small roster of low-yielding vineyards, drawing on just three or four tonnes per site. The largest parcel they work with is a quarter of a hectare and yields only 150 cases a year. From the very start, Patters has worked with the Settlement Vineyard, located in the Omaka Valley to the south of Marlborough’s Wairau plains. This is site is managed by Dog Point’s gun viticulturalist Nigel Sowman and Paterson sources his Pinot from the vineyard’s East Slope, a clay-rich hillside.  Another of Corofin’s foundational parcels is the Folium Vineyard. This beautiful site is owned and tended by the inimitable 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, sitting on top of gravelly silt.

“We are setting out to make wines that tell a story about some pretty special Marlborough sites,” says Mike Patterson. “These wines reflect the dedication of grape growers whose vineyards act as a beacon of individual terroir.”

Today Corofin’s portfolio also includes the exciting, biodynamically farmed Wrekin Vineyard at the top of the Brancott Valley (pictured above), which he calls “a real find” and Ben Glover’s Brawn Vineyard in Dillon’s Point has also joined the Corofin family, allowing Paterson to shine a light on another of Marlborough’s excellent, if under-garlanded, sites.

The elevation and small size of the plots allow them to pick rapidly at the perfect moment—a reality that plays out in the balance of ripeness and freshness, the length and the supple structure of their wines. The vineyards are all managed organically and/or biodynamically. In addition, Paterson’s artisanal and highly intuitive approach in the winery does justice to the personality of each site. Corofin’s metier includes hand-harvesting and sorting, whole-berry ferments, no yeast additions, no fining or filtration, no acidification and no new wood. Year on year, Paterson’s courage to do less in the winery is paying greater dividends.

Now ten years in, this tiny operation is making some of New Zealand’s most lyrical Pinot Noirs and seamless, precise Chardonnays. The wines have the aromatic prowess and elegant texture that will appeal to Burgundy fanatics, but also youthful generosity and reasonable price tag; qualities all Pinot and Chardonnay lovers can get behind. The ‘entry level’ Meltwater range—which includes Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and most recently, Chenin Blanc—represent massive value from a region riddled with underwhelming wines that lack true character. In the words of Jamie Goode — “The Meltwater range massively over-delivers. These are proper wines.”

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