Tony Bish Fat & Sassy Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2022 $22 Pronounced nectarine and lemon notes on the nose lead to a palate awash with stonefruit and preserved lemon layers wrapped around a sawdusty, toasty core. If ‘fatness’ to you means ‘creaminess’ then that’s not what you’ll receive, but if you’re a fan of toasty, spicy … Read More
Tony Bish
Tony Bish Wines Heartwood Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2021
Tony Bish Wines Heartwood Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2021 $40 Wow! 100% barrel-fermented in 3-year-old seasoned French oak, it’s deeply golden and glossy in the glass and bursting with scorched peach, grilled grapefruit and roasty, toasty goodness on the nose and palate. Stylish, seamless and super-refreshing, it has excellent citrus weight, a hint of creamy complexity, … Read More
I review the 2020 Hawke’s Bay Winegrowers Chardonnay Selection
I review the 2020 Hawke’s Bay Winegrowers Chardonnay Selection. Twelve wines whittled down from dozens submitted that were judged by Cameron Douglas MS to reflect the absolute finest examples created from the 2020 vintage from the Hawke’s Bay region. I love that there’s a healthy sub-regional spread in terms of where they were grown and … Read More
Tony Bish Skeetfield Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2018
Tony Bish Skeetfield Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2018 $59.99 I got an email recently from Tony Bish, (who in my opinion should be given a knighthood for his services to chardonnay) saying “We are very pleased to announce the release of the 2018 Skeetfield. This is a great follow on from 2017, and from a better … Read More
Tony Bish Fat & Sassy Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2019
Tony Bish Fat & Sassy Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2019 $23.99 Of all the fat and sassy’s, I think the shiny, new 2019 vintage could very well be the plumpest and cheekiest and goldenest of them all. Tony says he’s keeping it fat with lots of lees work, full malo and quality ripe fruit sourced mostly … Read More
Tony Bish Skeetfield Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2016 $56
Prepare for heaping wads of hazelnut, citrus pith, white peach and nutmeg on the nose followed by gorgeous, grapefruit, smoked pineapple and waves of juiciness which flow constantly across the palate. Crafted from old vine, dry farmed, Mendoza-clone chardonnay from a vineyard named after Brick Gunn, champion NZ Skeet Shooter, this wine is beautifully balanced … Read More
Tony Bish Fat & Sassy Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2014
Tony Bish Fat & Sassy Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2014 $20 ★★★★½ When Tony promises more fat and more sass than the last release, he’s not wrong. Ultra-vibrant aromas of tangy pineapple and grapefruit, toasty roast pineapple, spicy biscuit characters and buckets of stonefruit. It’s a bold, biscuity and nicely balanced chardonnay that has a long, … Read More