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.

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

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. 

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.

Made from a blend of 60% Waiheke and 40% Gisborne Chardonnay grapes, this wine is perfectly balanced with a delicious long finish highlighting the almost 12 months the wine has spent in barrel.

Rich and concentrated with nectarine, lime and passion-fruit with toasty vanilla slight, buttery element and butterscotch undertones.

Light oak aging and fresh, balanced acidity make this chardonnay a must- have. The bouquet is soft with ripe honeydew, rich vanilla and hints of apple skin. The oak aging adds a nice complexity to the mouthfeel, layering zesty spice tones on top of crisp pear and guava flavour. On the back end, flavours of lemon peel meld with the creamy vanilla notes to create a refreshing and savoury finish.

Produced in the Maconnais region of Burgundy, Macon-Villages is vinified with no oak contact to retain the elegant aromas and clean, fresh character that this region is prized for. The vineyard soils have a high percentage of chalk and limestone which impart nuanced minerality.

GRAPES:
100% Chardonnay

TASTE:
This wine shows floral, apple and citrus aromas with fresh, clean flavours and mineral notes.

PAIRING:
Perfect as an aperitif or with shellfish, crab cakes or goat cheese.

DISTINCTION:
Clean and vibrant unoaked Chardonnay.

The Petit Chablis takes its roots in Portland soil which is essentially made up of limestone. This appellation is the fruitiest of the Chablis wines and results in a fresh and pleasurable wine.

Yellow colour with green reflection, lime notes, grapefruit, passion fruit.
A gourmet wine, energetic with good persistence to serve with oysters and seafood in general.

A floral Chardonnay that displays lanolin, flintiness and stone fruit aromas on the nose. The palate is creamily textured and full bodied with ripe nectarine-like fruit, underlying notes of toasted cashew nuts, sourdough bread and cinnamon quills - ending with a clean and crisp finish and a lovely persistent and savoury toastiness.

Luta 2021 Chardonnay from Echo vineyard in Weka Road, made from Clones 15, 95 & Mendoza grown in Moutere Clay soils.

The Grapes were whole bunch pressed & aged in 500L 5-7 year old oak puncheons on the lees for 10 months.

Lemon rind, Brioche & Yoghurt on the nose.

Lemon rind fruit up front into brioche & Oats on the midpalate then a delicate minerality into the finish.

A very elegant wine with great texture.

The Wrekin Chardonnay

WINEMAKING
The grapes were 100% hand-picked and gently whole bunch pressed. After settling in tank, the juice was racked and inoculated with yeasts from ‘ The Wrekin’ vineyard and then transferred to French barriques- no new oak. In spring, malolactic fermentation occurred naturally. The wine aged for 18 months on lees.


TASTING NOTES
On the nose a complex array of toasted nuts, lees and smokey tones overlay a pure stone fruit white peach with a citrus backbone. On the palate is crisp and pure. The vibrant acidity offers lively structure to the wine’s weight and texture. Citrus pith, stone fruit, and spice leave a long delicate finish.