Whitehaven Wines began life in 1994 as a romantic business for a couple of corporate escapees, Sue and Greg White, who had given up life in the rat race of Auckland for another kind of life aboard their yacht. When sailing around the country, they took shelter in the Marlborough Sounds from Pacific storms and fell in love with the region. An easy thing to do when harbouring in the spectacularly pristine waters of the Sounds. They decided to settle there on terra firma once more and try their hands at wine production, hiring a winemaker and beginning a business which has now been around for 26 years. Greg has sadly passed away now, leaving a legacy as well as his wife and daughter, Sam, to run the winery. Their winemaker is Peter Jackson.

Nga Waka Chardonnay is one of the biggest selling wines at this Martinborough winery cellar door, thanks to its creamy smooth body, balanced by freshness and vibrant citrus flavour notes. 

This wine offers stunning value for money, delivering a full body, bone dry flavours and a long, refreshing finish, thanks to the bright balanced acidity provided from the cool nights in the Martinborough region.

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.

Trinity Hill - The structure has a tight shape with the finesse and concentration that are hallmarks of Trinity Hill Chardonnay. It displays delicacy but richness and the beautifully linear acidity makes it a fantastic match with food.

An excellent partner with white meats and seafood dishes.

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%

The Crater Rim Waipara Valley Chardonnay is a youthful, estate-grown wine, hand-picked and fermented and lees-aged for 11 months in French oak barriques (partly new). This wine is a bright, light yellow-green, with a fragrant, citrusy bouquet. The palate is mouth-filling, with good intensity of grapefruit-like flavours, slightly buttery and toasty.

In exceptional vintages we occasionally find special pockets of grapes destined for the Basket Press. The resultant wine is the pinnacle of our wine making. Intense purple, red rimmed with a palate of multi -layered fruit, a heady mix of leather, tar, mint cassis and plum held together with fine grained tannins and spicy oak.

Comes in wooden gift box.

Grant Burge’s Filsell vineyard with near century old vines is considered one of the best vineyards in the Barossa Valley and consistently produces fruit of great intensity and concentration. Planted in 1920, this vineyard also produces some of the fruit for Grant Burge Wines, flagship Shiraz, the highly acclaimed Meshach.

Savitar is one of the great Shirazes from McLaren Vale, made with grapes grown on the Lopresti Vineyard's Chinese Block, located at the south end of McLaren Vale, about four kilometres east of the coastal town of Port Willunga. The vines struggle here, producing low yields of fruit with tiny berries which are full of black fruit flavours with dried herb, black olives and an earthy structure of dark smokiness, making this a power packed wine. 

It's named after a mythological dragon like creature, in homage to this wine's bold flavours and powerful length. It's an impressive wine for now and will undoubtedly age for the long haul - think a decade at least. 

The winemaking

Grapes for Savitar Shiraz are selected by hand from the Lopresti Vineyard in McLaren Vale, a site where they struggle and deliver in small volumes. This is regarded as outstanding raw material. They are fermented and the wine pressed before being transferred to oak barrels where it remains on light lees for 18 months before blending. 

Garnacha with structure and weight as well as approachable red fruit appeal and smooth mouthfeel. This lovely new wine is one of a range of great reds based on the Grenache grape grown in Sierre de Gredos, east of Madrid in Spain's hot arid interior. 

The granite soils, native yeasts and French oak that go into this wine all contribute to the complexity, depth and deliciousness in this impressive Spanish red.

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.