For Easter Wine-Searcher’s Wine Director, David Allen MW, decides to try a golden egg from Hawkes Bayrather than a chocolate one! Join him as he tastes the 2021 vintage of Tony Bish ‘Golden Egg’ Chardonnay.
Tony Bish Wines is a prominent New Zealand wine producer of Chardonnay wines, based in the Hawke’s Bay region of the country’s North Island. It was the first wine producer in the Southern Hemisphere to adopt the “Oak Ovum’ egg-shaped fermenter.
Tony Bish is well-known throughout New Zealand’s winemaking industry, his journey began at Corban’s Estate in Gisborne in the early 80s. In 1986, he co-founded Sacred Hill Wines with brothers David and Mark Mason. After a hiatus as the pioneering winemaker for Rippon and establishing French Farm Winery, he returned to Sacred Hill as senior winemaker in 1994.
Tony Bish Wines was launched in 2013. After a trip throughout the winemaking regions of South America, Bish was inspired to begin fermenting Chardonnay in egg fermenters. Collaborating with NZ Tanks, the first concrete egg fermenter was built in 2015. Today, there are five eggs in the Tony Bish Winery as well as an impressive French oak Ovum fermenter from the Taransaud cooperage in France.
The Zen Chardonnay is the flagship of the Tony Bish Wine portfolio, fermented and aged in said Ovum fermenter. The egg-shape — with lack of corners and a smooth internal surface — promotes a natural current and keeps yeast suspended throughout fermentation.
For more information about egg fermenters follow this link to The Complete Guide to Egg Fermentation:
Other notable wines in the portfolio include the wild yeast Skeetfield of which is 100-percent fermented in barrel. The Fat & Sassy is the entry-level offering with a palate of buttery malolactic nuances.
Find out more about this wine, including pricing and were to purchase it by following this link to the Wine-Searcher website:
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