Felton Road winemaker Blair Walter and owner Nigel Greening (who bought the winery in 2000) are a formidable team producing elegant, powerful southern Pinots from their estate vineyards, all now organically and biodynamically certified. 

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. 

Elegant Chablis-like Chardonnay with creamy notes and balancing acidity due to the cool climate of Central Otago's Inlet Vineyard in Bannockburn. Grapes in this wine were picked in two lots with the first pressed directly to barrel and the second lot left overnight then whole bunch pressed to barrel where they were fermented with wild yeasts and stirred weekly to encourage flavour integration from lees (yeast cells from fermentation) contact. The wine was aged in French oak, just 16% of it new and then bottled unfined but filtered.

Beautiful creamy new Chablis with a smooth body and lovely balance of crisp fresh citrus flavours - layers of lemon zest, creamy nutty aromas and ripe grapefruit all vie for attention in each lively sip of this dry white. Chablis is hot property for lovers of great Chardonnay and is also the name of one of the coolest climates in the wine world; the northernmost part of Burgundy in north east France. 

Chardonnay is what made Gisborne famous and one sip of this and you?ll see why. Complex with layered citrus- and stone fruit aromas, lifted by savoury yeast and nutty oak characters, the palate sensation is both fresh and textured. The wine delivers Gisborne?s bold elegance with a long and seamless finish. Ripe and weighty fruit flavours without the heat of excess alcohol. Big wine, beautiful wine, with a taste that will linger for ages.

This flagship Chardonnay expresses a medley of peach and melon flavours, overlaid with toasty oak. A rich, ripe style with finely integrated oak and a taut but harmonious acidity on the finish. - Matawhero.

Louis Jadot owns one of the largest holdings of top level vineyards in Burgunday so has access to outstanding grapes in good volumes, so wines like this lively fresh young Chardonnay benefit hugely. This wine is a regional blend from Burgundy, made from grapes grown in both the Cotes d?Or and Macon, which combine to add flesh, weight and depth along with purity of acidity for freshness. 

Very pretty pale golden yellow in colour with light greenish glints. Bright, luminous and limpid. The nose is young, fresh and vivacious in a whirlwind of floral, fruity scents. The taste is lively, pleasant and perfumed, revealing lemon and verbena on a fine mineral background. We discover the pleasure of drinking for sheer enjoyment. The finish is pleasant leaving the mouth tingling with an airy freshness.

Matt Dicey, Winemaker notes:

“Generous aromas of peach, naval orange and meyer lemons with acacia blossom and a touch of brioche in the background lead to a creamy, and textural palate. Integrated nougat oak, with subtle spice and hints of flint are showcased on the palate. A fine, precise acidity flows through the wine to a persistent finish.” 

Winery notes:

Ghost Town Chardonnay is made from small parcels from our Lowburn Valley Vineyard in Central Otago. Hand-picked and handcrafted crafted in very limited quantities this wine showcases the unique personality of our diverse microclimate and soils. Unfined and vegan friendly.

Elegant and refined with a backbone of pristine fruit and balanced acidity, this finely concentrated Chardonnay has a lovely freshness and finesse and will become more complex as it evolves over time. It is drinking well now, and will develop beautifully over 5-7 years.

VINEYARDS
Old vine Mendoza Chardonnay was sourced from two sites in Hawke?s Bay.
The Mangatahi site is inland and elevated and later ripening, while Bridge Pa
ripens Chardonnay beautifully with their red metal soils.
Low yielding vines, open canopy management, managed irrigation and Sustainable
Winegrowing NZ farmed were common to both sites. The Mendoza clone with their
typical hen and chicken bunches produced fruit of great intensity and balance,
and structured acidity. This Chardonnay was hand harvested and cooled overnight.

WINEMAKING
The cooled bunches were hand sorted then whole bunched pressed. The majority of
juice was cold settled then racked to barrel. Fermentation was in new and seasoned
French oak, with selected cultured yeast and indigenous yeast, for added complexity.
A combination of 500L puncheons and 225L barriques were employed. Lees stirring
post fermentation was regular and malolactic fermentation was completed in barrel.
The Chardonnay matured in barrel for 9 months before blending and bottling.

TASTING NOTE
An elegant Chardonnay which focuses on the beautiful structure so evident in this
grape variety. Pristine fruit and balanced acidity are the backbone, enhanced with
seamless texture and mouthfeel. Citrus notes, particularly grapefruit pith abound, gracefully supported by sweet French oak.

Radburnd Cellars 

The first release of this special cuvee is from an exceptional Chardonnay parcel in the renowned Howell Family Vineyard.

Hints of orange peel and candied lime, flirt with cedar and toasted almond on the nose. On the palate the wine shows great power and presence on the attack, with a rich silky textured mid palate supported by a zesty acid finish, providing length , vitality and balance.

This wine will age extremely well over the next five-six years.

860 bottles made.

Mount Beautiful by name and by nature, this full bodied, peachy South Island Chardonnay is beautifully balanced by freshness and acidity of flavours of red apple, stone fruits and nectarines, leading to a creamy, textured palate that is medium bodied. Flavours include layers of buttered brioche and the wine finishes clean and crisp with flint-like minerality.

Ripe citrus aromas of navel orange and peach, a medley of nougat and vanilla notes to add to the complexity and interest on the nose. A silky attack with sweet fruit flavours of peach and navel orange in the rich textural mid palate and with hints of nougat and vanilla balanced with fine oak and lingering citrus finish. - Paritua ALCOHOL: 13.5%

Combining lovely fruitiness with an attractive freshness and characteristic minerality, Chablis is a wine region with global renown. Domaine William Fèvre’s vineyards sit on Kimmeridgian subsoil and enjoy ideal exposures for the production of a very fine wine.

The nose reveals a fleshy and elegant bouquet with citrus, white fruit and floral aromas. The palate is fresh and supple, underscored by stony minerality.

Domaine William Fevre has led the Chablis revival over the past decade with its refined, full bodied, dry white wines, all 100% Chardonnay, of course, as this appellation is devoted entirely and solely to this great white grape variety.