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 

Delicious succulent Chardonnay from North Canterbury made from a great vintage for Ataahua Wines. This drop dead gorgeous Chardonnay is full bodied, bone dry and incredibly succulent with lively crisp citrusy flavours and excellent concentration. Complex flavours of ripe grapefruit, white peach and nectarine are beautifully integrated with freshly crushed white nuts and creamy aromas. 

Ataahua is owned by Stephanie Henderson-Grant and Andrew Grant. Their vineyards are based in the Waipara Valley, the heart of North Canterbury's wine region.

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.

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.

Cloudy Bay Chardonnay is a savoury and complex wine with bright aromatics and a powerful palate. Notes of citrus rind and stone fruit take the lead in this wine, backed up by nuttiness, excellent minerality and a hint of spice.

Rockford Shiraz Cabernet is one of the icons of Australia and of the Barossa Valley with its bold deep ruby colour and powerful tannins adding layers of complex texture and taste to a wine that drinks well now with dark berry flavours and will evolve into a wine with smoothness, spicy notes and black olive depths over time in the bottle.

Rockford Wines' legacy

Rockford Wines is an icon itself and a relatively new one, established in 1971 by Robert O'Callaghan, who has forged a reputation for preserving winemaking tradition and saving many of the world's oldest grape vines from being pulled up in the Australian Government's vine pull schemes of the 1970s and 1980s.

The Rockford vintage shed houses equipment from 50 to 100 years ago, which was discarded by other wineries as modernisation took over. 

Family owned Leeuwin Estate is one of the five founding wineries of the now famous Margaret River district of Western Australia.

 In 1972, legendary Napa Valley winemaker, Robert Mondavi, identified the future site of the Leeuwin vineyard as being ideal for the production of premium wine and provided early mentorship to Denis and Tricia Horgan in the transformation of their cattle farm into Leeuwin Estate. Enjoying its first commercial vintage in 1979, Leeuwin was thrust into the international spotlight when Decanter Magazine gave its highest recommendation to the 1981 “Art Series” Chardonnay. 

This is Shiraz is part of the same art series, from Margaret River in Wetern Australia. This is classic Shiraz with an abundance of bursting blackcurrants, boysenberries and mulberries balanced by sweet, toasted spices.

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. 

Volumes of small and quality is high of this supple, smooth and savoury Gamay from the Adelaide Hills winery, Ochota Barrels.  Fresh red fruit flavours are held together in a medium bodied, dry red wine made from vines planted in 1985 in the Piccadilly Valley. This is a concentrated red from a quirky grape planted in a climate that is well suited to it and made with care and attention. 

We have small volumes of Ochota Barrels wines in store at Regional. Get in quick. 

This wine not only looks great, its flavours live up to the part too, thanks to the fact that the Barossa Valley in South Australia is a hot bed of old grapevines and Grenache is one of the most under rated.

This is all about a juicy, supple, medium bodied style and refreshing red fruit flavours. It has great balance, interesting complex flavours and drinks well now but will hold for the next three to four years. 

If you're looking for a red to lightly chill in summer and enjoy with great savoury flavours, such as slow cooked duck, here it is.

Chateau Rieussec R de Rieussec is a great French white blend of Sauvignon Blanc 57% and Semillon 43%, with 20% fermentation in barrels which adds flesh, weight and textural qualities to this classic Bordeaux white wine.

The winery was purchased by Domaines de Barons de Rothschild in 1984 and has since been extensively renovated. While Chateau RIeussec is most famous for its sweet southern French white blends of Semillon, Muscadelle and Sauvignon Blanc, it also produces outstanding dry whites, such as this stunning release from the 2022 vintage.