Hughes & Hughes Chardonnay 2023

Product Information:

Everything you love about Chardonnay. This wine hits all the check boxes on the variety, just ripe stonefruit, meal, cream and balanced with nougat and Tassie's signature chalkiness to keep things fresh. This chardonnay is from the north west and south of the state, naturally fermented and matured in oak where it underwent malolactic fermentation and lees ageing.

Maker:

Brothers Matthew and Jonathan Hughes have already enjoyed meteoric success with their acclaimed Mewstone Vineyard, established on the banks of the D’Entrecasteaux Channel in South Tasmania in 2011. Here they create expressive single site wines with a minimum of intervention in the winery. The vineyard is a former cherry orchard and with some new plantings going in this year will expanded to a final size of 5.2 hectares. 

But for Jonathan to scratch his creative itch he also make wines under the Hughes & Hughes label. Selecting fruit from predominantly Southern Tasmania, the project gives the Jonathan a platform for creativity and experimentation in the cellar. Hughes & Hughes aims to produce bright wines with strong natural acidity, drinkability, that won't break the bank.

Philosophy:

Sourcing quality grapes from other local vineyards, the more daring Hughes & Hughes sees Jonathan bring together techniques he encountered from his world travels. It comes in three levels, the Tasmania blends, single-site expressions and the most playful of this range is lo-fi, living wines made without any sulphur adds. 

The Tasmania blends seek to champion varietal expression. Building texture and complexity but not at the expense of enjoyment and purity. The winemaking can be a little experimental and playful. Your sneaky mid-weeky Pinot. As for the single sites expressions. These wines are chosen for their quality and expression of place - these are special parcels from growers that represent something a bit special. With the diverse growing conditions around Tasmania the brothers have a 6th sense for which patches will stand out after vintage. Once selected they are matured a little longer before bottling and release. Lastly the most wild expressions are made with a minimum of intervention in the winery. No added sulphur, no fining or filtering. Seasonal wines that explore texture and continue to evolve after bottling.

Hughes & Hughes are produced in small amounts means he can put a whole lot of love into these unique creations. Don't miss the opportunity to snap these up while you can.

Nose - Stonefruit, Hay, Cream
Just great Chardonnany. Stonefruit, meal, cream and hay.

Palate - Nectarine, Bright Acidity, Chalk
Pure fruited and creamy, tense acid and chalk zip through the plush fruit

Finish - Nougat, Custard Powder, Almond Meal
Nougat and custard powder characters linger the palate sitting dry and pretty on the finish.

Mewstone and Hughes & Hughes are, basically, kicking goals. My first and most enduring reaction to this wine was, simply: gosh I love chardonnay. This wine is an ode to the variety, its stonefruit, meal, cream and hay flavours flowing harmoniously throughout, its chalk, nougat and custard powder characters then sitting dry and pretty on the finish. This wine flows. This wine flourishes. - Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front, 94 Points.

The Finer Details
Style - White Wine
Varietal - Chardonnay
Country - Australia
Region- Tasmania
Vintage - 2023
Bottle Size - 750ml
ABV - 12.5%