The Hunting Lodge Home Block Waimauku Chardonnay 2019 $64 Grown on the Waimauku Clays, half an hour or so’s drive out west of the Auckland CBD on the Northwestern motorway, Chief Winemaker Pete Turner has been carefully watching over their 80acre estate to finally decide if and when it’d produce chardonnay worthy of their flagship … Read More
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Ashwell Martinborough Chardonnay 2019
Ashwell Martinborough Chardonnay 2019 $28 If you’re looking for a lemony, citrus-forward, mineral-edged chardonnay instead of a fruit salady, buttery, oak-bomb then you’ve come to the right campsite. Clean, focused, lighter-styled and showing that rain-on-hot-rocks character that works itself into a slight saline character. It’s Chablis-like in its citrus dimensions and acidity. Tip: Be careful … Read More
Gabriele Meffre La Châsse Vin De France Chardonnay 2019
Gabriele Meffre La Châsse Vin De France Chardonnay 2019 $19 Lovers of lighter-styled, citrus-soaked chardonnay that focuses on fruit and not buckets of smoky oak, will love this wine. Fresh, electrically vibrant, its a taut, tense, tangelo-tastic style that’s named after the lavishly decorated ‘chests’ that the pontiff’s of 14th century Avignon used to store … Read More
Black Estate North Canterbury Young Vines Home Chardonnay 2019
Black Estate North Canterbury Young Vines Home Chardonnay 2019 $37 Certified organic and gloriously golden in the glass, this slightly cloudy, seriously sexy, citrus-saturated unfined, unfiltered chardonnay from the great folk at Black Estate. The fruit is handpicked and the ferment is kickstarted by yeasts present in the canopy itself then 100% fermented in barrel, … Read More
Lime Rock Central Hawke’s Bay Grüner Veltliner 2020
Lime Rock Central Hawke’s Bay Grüner Veltliner 2020 $32 “Vitecologists” Rosie Butler and her husband Rodger Tynan have been quietly coaxing this local version of Austrian awesomeness into a bottle for the last 9 or so years and it just keeps getting better. Pronounced ‘Grooner Felt-Leener’, this new vintage is a deliciously, generously dry wine, … Read More
Lake Chalice Plume Marlborough Chardonnay 2016
Lake Chalice Plume Marlborough Chardonnay 2016 $49.99 Wow! If you’re looking for a chardonnay erupting with roast nectarine, grilled grapefruit and caramelised cedary oak notes then hit the brakes because you’ve come down the right cul de sac. Refreshing acidity, intense, prickly tannins, ripe, rich and generous on the palate, it’s a tropical road trip … Read More
Palliser Estate Martinborough Chardonnay 2019
Palliser Estate Martinborough Chardonnay 2019 $39 Perfumed with roasted almond, grilled peach, caramelised, spicy oak and buttered cinnamon toast, it’ s an extremely juicy, satisfying, creamy-textured and beautifully built chardonnay that boasts cheek-slappingly vibrant acidity and seductive, perfectly prickly textures. It’s ballerina-balanced and shows delicious tension and excitement. Stunning stuff. http://www.palliser.co.nz
Lime Rock Hill of Good Health Central Hawke’s Bay 2020
Lime Rock Hill of Good Health Central Hawke’s Bay 2020 $35 As soon as you take the first sniff, you’ll want to lift your glass and wish everyone around you ‘good health’. For Lime Rock, chardonnay hasn’t really been on the radar until recently and tasting this, I’m like “where has Lime Rock chardonnay been … Read More
Lime Rock Central Hawke’s Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2020
Lime Rock Central Hawke’s Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2020 ($19) Stop, drop and roll yourself over to the website and order this wine immediately because it is such an excellently wallet-friendly wine to pair with pretty much anything remotely seafoody. In fact, who needs food when you have Sauvignon Blanc this bodacious? Cheek-puckeringly crisp and juicy, … Read More
Sacred Hill Riflemans Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2019
Sacred Hill Riflemans Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2019 $69.99 Sure you could spend seventy dollars on groceries, school fees or a 30minute neck and shoulder shiatsu – but will they deliver the same unparalleled taste-joy as sipping the new Riflemans with a large bowl of bacon and prawn spaghetti? Fat chance. Grilled grapefruit, roast nectarine and … Read More