From the Producer

"Gentle lemon appearance with a prominent enticing nose. Aromas of citrus, melon, tropical fruit and sweet nuts. A refined palate with a pleasant citrusy acidity, creamy mouth coating textures and a remarkably long finish. Shisty minerality, flavours and textures reflect the soils of our Bendigo vineyard. A delightful wine after a hot day in the sun or a cold day on the mountain. Drinking well now till 2033."

Food pairings:Mediterranean cheese and olive platter, hot smoked salmon with new potatoes, chilled cucumber soup. 

Expert Review - This Bendigo Chardonnay shows delicate floral with balanced fruit, layering over a lightly creamy mouthfeel and silky phenolics, enticing acidity ripples through the palate and lends a savoury, mineral finish. 94pts, Candice Chow  

Winemaking
Crafted in the heart of the Jura, Domaine Maire’s Grand Minéral Chardonnay is made using fruit from clay and limestone soils that lend natural tension and minerality. The 2021 vintage is vinified without oak, allowing the purity of Chardonnay and Jura’s terroir to take centre stage. Fermented and matured in stainless steel with extended lees contact, the wine combines freshness with a gentle savoury depth.

Bouquet
The nose is clean and expressive, showing green apple, citrus peel and pear alongside subtle notes of almond, white flowers and crushed stone.

Palate
Bright, textural and dry, the palate delivers zesty citrus, crisp orchard fruit and a chalky mineral core. A subtle nuttiness lingers beneath the fresh fruit, balanced by vibrant acidity and a long, saline finish. Elegant and refreshing with a distinct Jura edge.

Food Pairing
Perfect with Comté cheese, roast chicken, or trout almondine. Also pairs beautifully with creamy mushroom dishes, seafood gratin or a vegetable tart.

Vinification

All fruit is estate grown organically, with the majority of the clone being Mendoza. All our Chardonnay is hand harvested and whole-bunch pressed,
but they are lightly crushed first, this allows the juice to be extracted at very low pressures. Each parcel of fruit is kept separate and vinified and aged
individually. The juice is allowed to oxidise pre-ferment which makes the final wine more vibrant, long-lived and intensely flavoured as finished wine.
All parcels take most of the lees from pressing to barrel for wild fermentation and are aged in French oak with 25% being new. To keep the structure of
this wine, we allowed only 50% of the barrels to go through spontaneous malolactic fermentation, with no battonage. The total time in barrel is about
10 months before being combined into one blend in mid-February, The wine stays in stainless steel tank for 6 months on lees which allows for the acid
to become precisely defined and adds texture - then finished with no fining and only gentle filtration.

Wine
Green gold with silver flecks.
Aromas of grapefruit, orange zest, grilled white stonefruits, chared applewood with underlying peach blossom and oystershell.
Fresh citrus dominates with crunchy nectarine, crystalized pineapple, sweet baking spice and a saline minerality in support. A fine acid structure is
coated with a silky texture to give a long complex finish.

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.

Classic Petit Chablis aged 100% in stainless steel offering lovely green and citrus fruit wrapped in subtle minerality and keen acidity.

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. 

Chardonnay lovers will be all over this wine made from hand picked grapes grown on the Heretaunga Plains in Hawke's Bay. Grapes were whole bunch pressed and
barrel fermented with wild yeasts, which provides rich depth of flavour and a smooth palate mouthfeel; Lees stirring enhances softness and builds structure and weight to this wine, which was aged for 11 months in barrel.

Hand made Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay with depth and delicious intensity of flavour; ripe peachy fruit flavours are balanced by fine crisp fresh acidity and complex notes of creamy texture and a savoury depth that comes through. Aromas of oatmeal, cedar and spice all add layers of flavour to this wine, which was made with grapes grown on three vineyards; 70% Kokako and Ohiti Valley and 30% from the Ascot Vineyard in Havelock North. All grapes in this wine were hand picked, whole bunch pressed and fermented with wild yeasts, 100% malolactic fermentation followed by ageing in barrel on lees for eight months in French oak, 28% new. It was bottled unfined with a light filtration.

Winemaking at Felton Road is led by one of Central Otago's most experienced winemakers, Blair Walter, who has been at Felton Road since the mid 1990s. His meticulous attention to detail and unwavering focus on the great classic Chardonnays of the world are as key to this wine's outstanding quality as the focus on great quality in the vineyard and winery. 

Hand-picked and fermented with natural vineyard yeasts and aged in 20% new French oak barrels and 38% in a concrete Tulipe for 12 months before settling in a concrete Tulipe on light lees for a further 5 months. Bottled unfined and unfiltered.

Slightly hazy, lemon golden hue. Complex aromas of grilled nuts, citrus fruits, florals and a hint of lemon rind. Mouth-watering acidity drives the wine with laser focus, flavours of citrus fruits, toasted nuts and a creamy texture gives the wine body and weight. A classic North Canterbury Chardonnay that is fully ripe and saline.

A ripe, transparent and flinty style reminiscent of the 2019 Watchmaker. 2021 was another superb growing season and this wine will reward patient wine lovers for 8-10 years from vintage.

Stone fruits, lemon, cedar and gunflint. Bursting with mineral aromas with wonderful transparency on a rich, yet balanced palate. Limes and apricots come through on the palate that has super acidity. The 2021 Watchmaker has less new oak influence than other vintages, but still has the trademark salty zing on the finish.

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.

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.