Pyramid Valley North Canterbury Chardonnay 2018 $40 I love the unusually floral nose, lavender and fennel merge with hallmark peach and citrus pith layers that break in waves across the palate. Supported by a seriously acid-forged spine and edged with smoke, it’s also slightly cloudy, hazy in the glass due to not being conventionally filtered … Read More
Chardonnay
Brookfields Marshall Bank Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2018
Brookfields Marshall Bank Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2018 ($34.99) Paired with Pacifica Chicken Burgers in the NZ Herald Canvas Magazine 18.1.2020 I love me a chicken burger and given the chance I will always opt for a ripe, rumpty, roast peach-packed example to sip as I snack. Right now, the Brookfields Marshall Bank Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay … Read More
Wild Waves Gisborne Chardonnay 2017
Wild Waves Gisborne Chardonnay 2017 $21 French winemakers Renan Theilloux and Aurélien Mansuy have thrown themselves into making the Wild Waves range of wines, a brand dedicated to their winemaking adventures over oceans, in distant lands before they set roots down in New Zealand. This chardonnay has all those good Gisborne signatures such as ripe … Read More
de la terre Reserve Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2016
de la terre Reserve Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2016 $40 Ex- Church Road winemaker Tony Prichard has sourced the fruit for this beautifully balanced blockbuster from his tiny, Hill Country Estate vineyard, up on Te Mata Peak. The super-ripe, ultra-clean grapes were 100% handpicked and 100% barrel fermented with a mixture of wild and inoculated yeasts … Read More
Junction Red Card Central Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2015
Junction Red Card Central Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2015 $19 Four years on from harvest and this little chardonnay is still going strong. Lighter to medium-styled, it’s leaning into the creamy, cashew-like end of the spectrum, yet still showing peach and hints of citrus in the background. Soft, juicy and very easy to sip, it’s a … Read More
Junction Corner Post Central Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2017
Junction Corner Post Central Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2017 $29 Winemaker Leith Ashworth is really hitting his straps with this sensational chardonnay, grown on the Takapau Plains in Central Hawke’s Bay. Robust, roast peach, grilled grapefruit, toasted almond and smoke-soaked aromas and flavours erupt from the glass and the wine also offers something new in every … Read More
Vidal Soler Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2018
Quick seafood stew – matched in dish Magazine 2019 Straight away I’m hurling myself toward a ripe, rumpty, roasty, toasty, slightly smoky chardonnay to chip away at whilst sampling this sensational stew. The Vidal Soler Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2018 ($34.99) has a rich, smoky tone layered with citrus and caramelized spices, a heavyweight amongst its … Read More
Pyramid Valley Marlborough Chardonnay 2018
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
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