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
Chardonnay
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
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