Escarpment was founded on Martinborough's Te Muna Road terraces by Larry McKenna, a pioneer of the district's fine-wine reputation. The Chardonnay is sourced primarily from the estate's home block on the Martinborough terraces of the Wairarapa, where free-draining alluvial gravels over clay and a cool, dry climate with wide diurnal shifts give concentrated fruit and firm natural acidity. Farming is low-yielding and site-expressive, aiming for a flinty, mineral character alongside stone fruit. The 2023 wine is a faithful reflection of Wairarapa terroir; specific growing-season conditions for the vintage should be confirmed with the winery, but the terraces' reliably cool nights underpin the taut, citrus-and-stone-fruit profile noted by reviewers.

Fruit is whole-bunch pressed and the juice barrel-fermented, in the Burgundian manner the estate favours, to build texture and complexity. Fermentation and maturation take place in French oak, with a portion of new wood adding spice and framing the wine's white stone fruit, wet-stone and gunflint notes. Partial malolactic fermentation and regular lees stirring soften the acid line and enhance mouthfeel and mid-palate weight while preserving the mineral backbone and streamlined focus. The wine is built around a core of concentrated fruit and a seam of natural acidity, giving a long, commanding finish and moderate cellaring potential of around five years or more.