2020 Lion’s Tooth Chardonnay
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The 2020 Lion's Tooth Chardonnay is a totally different proposition to the Field of Fire Chardonnay from the same vintage. The wine is retained and placid on the nose ... the latent power of the thing is evident from the very first sniff. It is saturated with the curry leaf/cheesecloth/brine/preserved citrus notes that I associate with this producer, but the long throw of distance that the aromatics propose hint at great things. In the mouth, the wine speaks of crushed/salted/roasted nuts, red apple skins, peach fuzz and a hint of the little calcium deposits/flecks that one can find in Comté/Pradera cheese. That's why I eat those cheeses, and that's what I see here. What an exciting wine. Pure in its fruit profile, powerful in its acid/phenolic interplay, and so long through the finish. Yes! This is why we drink Chardonnay. 14% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.
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Julia Harding MW, jancisrobinson.com
Jancis Robinson MW
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The 2020 Lion's Tooth is a Chardonnay you have to spend time getting to know. It is quieter than its stablemate, Field of Fire, but it creeps up on you and shows its colors if you are patient. The limestone-based vineyard is a slightly warmer site than Field of Fire – facing due east rather than southeast. It exudes a sense of calmness and roundness, followed by a natural flush of acidity that gradually builds, allowing the wine to draw out far beyond expectations. The finish is long and scented, offering up oatmeal, nutmeg and ripe lemon zest as it persists. I'd suggest giving it another 18 months in bottle to shake off its youthful untamed vigor.
Botanicals collection. Waikari vineyard. Same winemaking as Field of Fire but the Lion's Tooth block has more clay and a higher proportion of active lime in the soil. Deeper colour than the 2019 and really savoury. Serious and substantial. A very impressive amount of undertow. (JR)
Planted from 2000 to 2002 at a high density of 11,111 vines/ha and farmed biodynamically from inception. Steeply inclined, east-facing home block. Beautiful soils, ‘with nut and crumb structure and great mineral fertility’: 30% clay, 15–20% active lime. Hand-harvested 11–12 April 2020. Foot stomped and whole-bunch pressed. Fermented with vineyard yeast only in older French oak barrels. 20 months on lees in barrel, then aged on light lees for 6 months in stainless steel prior to bottling unfined and unfiltered in June 2022. pH 3.13, TA 7.7 g/l. Vegan friendly. 449 cases of 6 produced. More stony on the nose than the Field of Fire, like stone-dust. Very pithy, less toasty. A little less flinty than Field of Fire. Great freshness and it's intense in a super-tight and salty way, with a lightly creamy texture. The most stony/mineral of the wines. Great length. Most salty of all of the Pyramid Valley whites. More limestone = more tension? Fabulous length. So young but gorgeous already. (JH)