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Organic. Initially planted by Fromm in 1996, the Folium Vineyard lies in Marlborough’s Brancott Valley. Since 2011, this beautiful site has been owned and organically tended by purist 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 and sits on top of gravelly silt. These soils retain sufficient moisture during the dry summers to balance the growth of the vines without the need for irrigation. Corofin only gets to work with five rows (1,200 vines).
Mike explains that the Chardonnay from this dry-grown site delivers the holy trinity of “ripeness, precision and harmony”, reflecting Takaki’s sensitive farming practices and the vineyard’s ungrafted, deep-rooted vines. The winemaking mirrors that for the Wrekin, although here all the juice was barrel-fermented in two 500-litre seasoned French oak puncheons.
There’s lots of juicy citrus and white nectarine alongside white pepper, fresh ginger, and a little ocean spray. It’s a mouth-filling and textured wine, slightly richer than the Wrekin Vineyard but equally well-balanced and finely structured. A little twist of mandarin bitterness rounds things off.