Chateau Garage Lyons Vineyard Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2022 $50 
Many winemakers call themselves ‘garagistes’ these days because they do things on a small scale. However I’ve been inside Ollie Powrie’s tiny, old-as-the-hills garden shed, where he makes his wines, and there is literally no room to swing, well anything really. Arms could almost stretch from one wall to another. It’s also got turrets. 
Working as one of New Zealand’s top viticulturists for over 20 years has given Ollie insider knowledge into how he might be able to lay his grape-stained hands onto tiny pockets of exceptional fruit, and in 2022 he came into possession of a parcel from the Lyons vineyard in Hawke’s Bay’s Gimblett Gravels sub-region. A long, gentle, super-slow, wild ferment followed and the result is a chardonnay with delicious poise and presence.
Whispers of caramelised oak, soft citrus and creamy complexity merge with refreshingly silky, soothing textures to create a chardonnay with calming energy and stonefruit intensity. It has a huge future ahead and I’d love to re-taste in another year.*
*Re-tasted June 18th 2024 “The citrus elements remain subtle and the creamy notes have merged into a mineral spectrum in that it’s still very fresh and hasn’t ‘deepened’ per se. Still very pleasant”.
