Chardonnay

Commercial Description

Introducing Lawson?s Dry Hills Reserve Chardonnay 2022 ? a wine that will truly captivate your senses! From the first whiff, you?ll be entranced by its enticing aromas of lemon, honeysuckle and brioche, with subtle hints of smoke and bees? wax. But that?s just the beginning! On the palate, you?ll experience a rich and full-flavoured wine that offers a perfect balance of concentrated, ripe fruit and toasty French oak, offset by a refreshing thread of fresh, citrus acidity. Every sip is an indulgent treat that lingers on the palate, leaving you wanting more. This is a wine that you won?t want to miss out on!

Awards:
New Zealand International Wine Show 2023 ? Gold medal (double gold).

National Wine Awards Aotearoa New Zealand 2023 ? Gold medal.

Cuisine Magazine 2024 ? 5 Stars.

Dish Magazine 2024 ? Gold medal.

Dyad is our wine barrel finish range. This release distilled in 2015 is made from unpeated New Zealand malt. Double distilled in copper pot stills and firstly matured in a refill bourbon barrel, before being finished in a French oak ex Chardonnay barrel from our friends at Mudbrick Vineyard on Waiheke Island. A rich and inviting nose leads to a complex palate with some umami character. An oily mouthfeel, well balanced with both sugar and lemon notes. A long finish with hints of a nutty, yeasty character from the Chardonnay.

Our Iris Chardonnay comes from the gracious slopes of our Čuvar Terraces Vineyard in Bayview. First planted by George Fistonich in 1986 (he was yet to become Sir), this vineyard has one of the best views in the bay - looking out to the Pacific Ocean. This environment shapes the sunshine of this wine.

The forthright bouquet introduces bursts of candied tropical fruits intertwined with notes reminiscent of warm fruit crumble. Gentle oak wraps around the palate of balanced acid and ripe fruit. Nothing is too dominant — the fruit, oak, acid and flavours all sing in harmony

TASTING NOTE
Bright, varietal, smooth textured aromas of peach and apple, grapefruit and light vanilla barrel spice quality. Equally bright and fruity on the palate with flavours that mirror the bouquet, a fine barrel texture with a cashew nut quality, plenty of acidity and fine wood tannins. A light lees quality layers in extra mouthfeel highlighting the peach and vanilla qualities.

WINEMAKING
This is a combination of 30% barrel-fermented and 70% stainless steel fermented wine. The barrel-fermented portion is made from grapes that were hand-harvested and gently whole bunch pressed to old French oak barrels for fermentation with a mix of wild and selected yeast strains with the aim to preserve the aromatic and fruit flavours from the vineyard. Wine was barrel-aged for 10 months on lees to build mouthfeel and texture. The stainless steel fermented portion was made of grapes that were machine harvested and field destemmed before being gently pressed to stainless steel holding tanks for fermentation at cool temperatures with selected yeast strains.

FOOD MATCHING
Pairs well with diversity of foods. Smoked fish and seafood are a great choice to match together with different poultry and pork dishes.

CELLARING POTENTIAL
Crafted to be enjoyed within 3-5 years of vintage date.

Commercial description

Shannon Ridge High Elevation is a true celebration of our sustainably-farmed, mountain-grown fruit. Crafted in a robust, food-friendly style, these wines bring together three very special appellations within Lake County: High Valley, Red Hills and Big Valley. Here, the grapes develop the ripe, full flavours, complexity and structure that make these wines perfect for gathering together your favourite people around the table. Enjoy the rich taste of the high life.

High Valley fruit adds lively citrus flavours and bright acidity, grapes from Red Hills contribute generous, ripe fruit character balanced by the grassiness and mineral tones of fruit from Big Valley

PURE, FRESH & TEXTURAL BARREL AGED CHARDONNAY

Bright, light yellow/green, it is mouth filling and vibrant with hints of stonefruit and citrus. Creamy and textural with a refreshing dry mineral finish. Approachable and delicious.

Vintage
2023 was a challenging vintage for Hawke’s Bay. Intensive viticulture work was imperative throughout the growing season.  High rainfall, humidity, reduced sunshine hours and Cyclone Gabrielle hitting the region early February was the icing on the cake.  A silver lining was the harvest was weeks behind a normal growing season which mean’t very slow ripening and high acids so grape maturity levels were behind when the cyclone hit. As the season unfolded and settled into autumn it was a very late pick for a lot of the varieties, in some respects a saving grace.

Vineyards
Kokako, Ohiti Valley and Ascot, Havelock North

Winemaking
90% Kokako Vineyard, Ohiti Valley 10%  Ascot Vineyard, Havelock North.  No SO2. Pressed to tank for cold settling overnight. Racked clean to barrel. Natural fermentation and malo-lactic fermentation to completion. Aged in matured French oak barrels on lees for 9 months.  Final Blend, barrel selection to taste.

pH 3.56 TA 7.0 g/L Alc 13.0 %v/v

Mate?s Vineyard Chardonnay was the first single vineyard Chardonnay producing by Kumeu River Wines and named in homage to the late Mate Brajkovich, whose four children run the winery today.

The grapes are grown solely on a single vineyard, sloping hillside site opposite the winery in Kumeu, West Auckland. 

Kumeu River Wines began life as San Marino Wines in 1944 when Croatian immigrant couple, Mick and Kate Brajkovich, bought a small property with a vineyard on it. Their descendents now own and run Kumeu River Wines, which produces 250,000 bottles of wine annually from its owns 30 hectares of vineyards in Kumeu and from another 10 hectares, owned by local grape growers. 

Coddington Chardonnay is made with grapes grown on a West Auckland vineyard owned by Tim and Angela Coddington, who have provided grapes to Kumeu River Wines since 1998; originally used in the Estate Chardonnay.

The grapes from this vineyard has since proven to have such rich, distinctive flavours that the Brajkovich family decided to create a single vineyard Chardonnay, initally in 2006. 

Kumeu River Coddington Chardonnay is ripe, peachy and rich with supple approachability, density, concentration and luscious creaminess. This makes the wine easy to drink at an early stage and it will age well too.

Kumeu River Wines began life as San Marino Wines in 1944 when Croatian immigrant couple, Mick and Kat? Brajkovich, bought a small property with a vineyard on it. Their descendents now own and run Kumeu River Wines, which produces 250,000 bottles of wine annually from its owns 30 hectares of vineyards in Kumeu and from another 10 hectares, owned by local grape growers. 

Rays Road is Kumeu River?s new vineyard site in Hawkes Bay. This limestone hillside is at 180 m altitude, with a northerly aspect. It is dry-farmed to yield high quality grapes for wine under the Rays Road name for our Kumeu River label.  This Chardonnay was hand-harvested, whole bunch pressed and fermented with wild yeast in older French Oak barrels to give a wine that is zesty and fragrant, with mineral complexity that is very true to its site.

Kumeu River Wines is New Zealand's top Chardonnay producer and best known globally. 

Kumeu River Estate Chardonnay is the flagship white from the winery. It is made from  grapes grown on six different vineyard sites in Kumeu and is consistently one of New Zealand's greatest dry, full bodied whites with outstanding freshness and complexity.

The winery is in the West Auckland village of Kumeu where it began life as San Marino Wines in 1944 when Croatian immigrant couple, Mick and Kat? Brajkovich, bought a small property with a vineyard on it. Their descendents now own and run Kumeu River Wines, which produces 250,000 bottles of wine annually from its owns 30 hectares of vineyards in Kumeu and from another 10 hectares, owned by local grape growers. 

Juicy and refreshingly succulent pale ruby Pinot Noir, which has body and structure, building on winemaker Jannine Rickards' previous Waikura Ros? and is a lighter bodied red wine with structure and flavour interest but freshness that suits being served as a lightly chilled wine. 

Made from old vine 10/5 Pinot Noir (25% whole bunch with gentle pump overs) and new plantings of Abel clone Pinot Noir, all grown on the Stad_Ko Vineyard; the new name for the old Arapai Vineyard in Martinborough.

Ozu Chardonnay (D.O. Navarra) is 100% Chardonnay and spends three months on its lees prior to bottling. No oak is used and the wine is clean, bright and mineral with a floral and citrus nose.

Pairs well with seafood, grilled and baked fish, white meats, light pasta dishes and sheep's cheeses.

100% Chardonnay from Vinho Regional Lisboa.

The vines are planted at a density of 4.200 Plants/ha on clay and limestone soils. The fruit is destemmed and then pressed and fremented at tempreatures around 18 degrees celcius.

With the ideal soil and climate conditions, the result is a top quality, aromatic, concentrated wine. Great diurnal variation results in ripe fruits but supporting acidity.

Bright and pure aromas of melon, stone fruit and citrus, interwoven with soft butter, toasty oak and cashew. Full bodied, with an elegant mouthfeel elevated by a soft buttery flow and a textural phenolic line. The fruit has concentration and intensity, compliment the toasty oak details with a long finish. Drink now until ~2028.