Paired with this recipe from dish magazine Summer 2020 Crayfish Grilled with Miso Butter, Spring Onions, Sesame Seeds and Coriander I cannot even express to you the joy that envelops me every time I’m lucky enough to eat fresh crayfish. Fresh crayfish with a glass of taut, robust, citrus-centric and toasty chardonnay puts me in … Read More
Chardonnay
Kono Nelson Chardonnay 2018
Kono Nelson Chardonnay 2018 $19.99 Sweetcorn fritter Bacon and Avocado burgers (paired for dish magazine Summer 2020) Holy bacon burger batman! A sweetcorn fritter inside a burger has me absolutely in my happy place. But give me a glass of the Kono Nelson Chardonnay 2018 ($19) and the grilled grapefruit and roast peach flavours send … Read More
Montana New Zealand Collection ‘Big and Buttery’ Gisborne Chardonnay 2018
Montana New Zealand Collection ‘Big and Buttery’ Gisborne Chardonnay 2018 $19 Sipping this chardonnay took me right back to being sixteen in 1990, and sneaking a secret sip of mum’s chardonnay. It was an oak bomb spread over a slab of buttered, citrus-infused shortbread, all tizzied up in a glass. Fast forward 28 years and … Read More
TW Reserve Gisborne Reserve Chardonnay 2018
TW Reserve Gisborne Reserve Chardonnay 2018 $27 Bottled on the 29th March 2019, this chardonnay is shaping up to be quite something special. Ripe, rumpty and ready for action with buckets of roast nectarine, creamy, cashew and almond layers and a plush, juicy mouthfeel. This classic Gisborne chardonnay is a huge crowd-pleaser and ultra-long on … Read More
Zaria Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2018
Zaria Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2018 $30 Crafted by Bryce Edmonds from Mendoza clone fruit grown ‘over the back fence’ of their home on Lesley’s Vineyard on Maraekakaho Road in the middle of the Bridge Pa Triangle. The juice was fermented and matured for 10 months in 33% new oak during which time 100% of it … Read More
Smith & Sheth Cru Mangatahi Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2018
Smith & Sheth Cru Mangatahi Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2018 $60 In a word. Phenomenal. They call the boulders that litter the soils of the Mangatahi sub-region, west of Hastings, ‘Mangatahi swedes’, which is a bit of a dig at the ‘Gimblett Gravels’ or ‘Te Awanga pebbles’ monikers out there. The vines thrive on sun-saturated, … Read More
Odyssey Wines Hera Gisborne Chardonnay 2018
Odyssey Wines Hera Gisborne Chardonnay 2018 $70 Hera is winemaker Rebecca Salmond’s flagship chardonnay. Rebecca is a chardonnay obsessive, so if she deems fruit worthy of ‘Hera’ status then chardonnay lovers like me sit up and take notice. Before I launch into telling you how much I love this wine, here’s a quick Greek mythology … Read More
Sacred Hill Single Vineyard Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2018
Sacred Hill Single Vineyard Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2018 $25 Sourced from their ‘Riflemans’ vineyard (which is fast becoming known as a national treasure) this new chardonnay ticks all the boxes for fruit weight, bright acidity, caramelised, coconutty oak and citrus complexity in the mid-palate and finish. It’s richly structured, toasty and shows a whisker of … Read More
Mills Reef Reserve Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2018
Mills Reef Reserve Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2018 $24.95 If you’re a fan of butter, cashews, cashew butter and all manner of buttery toasty things, then this new release will have you spreading the love. Ripe stonefruit notes merge with said roasty, nutty, buttery layers and build a smooth, peachy finish and generally give you a … Read More
Hunter’s Offshoot Marlborough Chardonnay 2017
Hunter’s Offshoot Marlborough Chardonnay 2017 $34.90 I’m LOVING the new Hunter’s Offshoot Marlborough Chardonnay 2017 ($34.90) because with its 100% barrel fermentation in 40% new and 60% 2yo French oak barrels, 20% malolactic fermentation and 12 months’ barrel ageing, is just an exquisite thing to sip. Fresh peach, pineapple and brioche flavours burst from the … Read More