Montana Reserve Gisborne Chardonnay 2016 $16.99 On the nose this chardonnay has creme brulee, Mackintosh’s ‘Harrogate’ and roast peach perfume, while on the palate it’s rich, decently structured and shows solid juiciness right through to the finish. It’s extremely gluggably good. Widely available.
Chardonnay
Morton Estate Black Label Gisborne Chardonnay 2016
Morton Estate Black Label Gisborne Chardonnay 2016 $19.99 So here’s where things get really tricky because Lion, (the company that sent me this wine to review) say that it’s recommended retail price (rrp) is $19.99. Yet when you Google this wine, some websites, like www.thegoodwine.co.nz say “rrp $34.99 – but our price $16.99”. www.blackmarket.co.nz have … Read More
Dog Point Marlborough Chardonnay 2015
Dog Point Marlborough Chardonnay 2015 $36.99 You know how some chardonnay’s look great in the adverts and there’s a lot of marketing guffery and so you buy it. But when it arrives it tastes like the same version of disappointment you get when you buy a dress off instagram, which, when delivered, is actually a sack … Read More
Durvillea Marlborough Chardonnay 2016
Durvillea Marlborough Chardonnay 2016 $15.99 It beggars belief at how this wine can sell for under $20. It is such a complete and beautifully rewarding and generously proportioned wine that it should be double the price. With roast stonefruit notes, caramelised oak, fresh, flirtatious acidity, and creamy complexity, it’s a buxom and generous chardonnay that’s seriously … Read More
LV Marlborough Chardonnay 2016
LV Marlborough Chardonnay 2016 $48 Straight off the bat, this is by far the most delicious chardonnay I’ve tasted in aeons! Aromas of creme caramel and freshly cut grapefruit and grilled stonefruit lead to the most elegant and statuesque palate that’s oh so concentrated and saturated with citrus and stonefruit. Winemaker Louis Vavasour has gone … Read More
Hunter’s Marlborough Chardonnay 2017
Hunter’s Marlborough Chardonnay 2017 $24 Holy peach pit Batman! This is like a tropical, toasty roundhouse kick to the face by a cheeky chardonnay often discounted down to the $18.99 mark. Absolutely heaving with gorgeous roast stonefruit, grilled grapefruit, toasted cashew, and incredibly zesty acidity makes this a wow moment for me as chardonnay lover … Read More
Lamont Central Otago Chardonnay 2017
Lamont Central Otago Chardonnay 2017 $32 Winemaker Craig Gasson sourced superlatively good fruit from Sue and Andrew Penniket’s organic and dry-farmed Minaret Peaks vineyard down in Wanaka for this new release chardonnay. Handpicked, whole bunch pressed and fermented in a concrete egg fermenter, it erupts with sweet cashew, stonefruit and citrus on the nose and … Read More
Collaboration Wines Impression White (chardonnay) 2017 $27
Collaboration Wines Impression White (chardonnay) 2017 $27 Crafted by Julianne Brogden from 100% Mendoza-clone fruit sourced near Havelock North, this is one chardonnay that has elegance written all over it. The oak maturation regime meant subtle handling in older French oak for just 8 months, allowing the delicate white stonefruit to be the hero. Laced … Read More
Matahiwi Holly South Series Chardonnay 2017
Matahiwi Holly South Series Chardonnay 2017 $33 The Holly South Series Chardonnay is from the southern Chardonnay planting in the ‘home’ vineyard at Matahiwi, just outside of Masterton. The vines were planted back in 2013 but it took 3 years before they were ready to produce enough fruit to make into a wine. So this … Read More
Montsable Languedoc Chardonnay 2015
Montsable Languedoc Chardonnay 2015 $24.95 With its bright lemon-gold hue and lifted grapefruity fragrance, this gorgeous French chardonnay from the Languedoc (long-wah-dock) region had me doing a happy dance as soon as I popped the cork (got your corkscrew handy?). Pronounced ‘mon-sah-blur,’ it’s a gently juicy little beauty that shows pings of pineapple and peach … Read More