Perfectly sized for modern life - Radiates gold and tastes of flame-caramelised pineapple.  Flavours, tannins, and acidity have the balance and poise of a prima Ballerina.  Creamy texture with a full court-press presence and a long finish.  Dry. Beautiful.  

For the kitchen, table, deck, couch, or blanket.  Wherever you take your little luxury.

Hand-harvested.  13.5% alc/bv

A finely composed yet generous Hawkes Bay Chardonnay 2025 displaying aromas of citrus blossom and grapefruit, seamlessly interwoven with subtle French oak spice.  Weighty palate and beautifully textured, layered flavours of ripe lemon curd, ginger and fresh nectarine.  Delicious!

An excellent bouquet of purity and finesse, with aromas of white peach and nectarine layered alongside lemon curd, subtle brioche, and a whisper of toasted hazelnut. A gentle thread of flinty minerality and saline freshness weaves through the nose, complemented by delicate floral notes and a touch of spice from well-integrated oak. On the palate, a dry wine with medium+ intensity, showcasing stone fruit and citrus flavours framed by fine acidity and a creamy, poised texture. The oak is understated yet supportive, adding complexity without overshadowing the fruit, while a mineral backbone and hints of struck stone speak clearly of site and season. Harmonious and precise, with a long, refined finish and excellent structure for ageing. Best drinking from late 2026 through 2035.

The Project wines unite Mission's sustainability initiatives, showcasing their enduring commitment to environmental management. 

VITICULTURE
The fruit for this wine was sustainably grown on our Gimblett Road vineyard in the Gimblett Gravels appellation of Hawke’s Bay. The low water holding capacity of the soils on the Gravels allowed the fruit to hang through early-season rain and ripen to full maturity. 

WINEMAKING

Machine-harvested and fully destemmed fruit was crushed into stainlesssteel fermenters. Fermentations were managed with daily air rummaging. The wines were tasted daily during long post-ferment macerations and pressed once optimal tannin extraction was achieved. Hard pressings were excluded. After malolactic fermentation, the wines were racked into French oak barriques and matured for nine months. 

TASTING NOTES

This wine is rich and generous with silky black berryfruits, spices and elevated floral notes with soft, approachable tannins. 

CELLAR POTENTIAL

Enjoy now, or cellar carefully for up to five years.

The Project wines unite Mission's sustainability initiatives, showcasing their enduring commitment to environmental management.

VITICULTURE
Sourced from old, low-yielding vines from some of the best Hawke's Bay vineyards in the Bridge Pa Triangle and Mangatahi. Machine-harvested early in the morning for freshness. Located on the east coast of the North Island, Hawke's Bay is one of the warmest wine-growing regions in New Zealand. The long and warm growing season provides for excellent ripening conditions and full flavour development.

WINEMAKING

Free-run juice and gentle first pressings only were used in the blend. Barrel fermented in French oak and aged in barrel for 10 months, with a further nine months on lees in tank.

TASTING NOTES

Soft and generous with excellent structure, fresh citrus notes and beautifully balanced with ripe peach, apricot and finely integrated toasty notes. A fresh finish gives a long-detailed ending that keeps giving and giving.

CELLAR POTENTIAL

Enjoy now, or cellar carefully for up to five years.

100% Amphora fermented - an exploration and celebration of our Moutere Clays.
A wine of tension and texture that celebrates both power & grace.
However, this wine is in no way, tense. It is serene, meditative, contemplative and confident.
The palate is lifted by a savoury lick of salt-block minerality and a whisper of summer citrus.
Unshackled from tradition, the result is a contemporary, delicious wine for the chardonnay obsessed or averse.
A complex and captivating nod to the old world.

Site: 

Rosie’s Block - Upper Moutere, Nelson
Aspect: 90m Elveation, North West Facing
Soil Type: Moutere Clay Gravels
Soil Composition: Deep sand loam, with clay content (19%). Little stone content.
Vineyard Established: 1999
Farming: Dry Farmed, Organic (Biogro: #5438)
Variety: 100% Chardonnay
Clonal Selection: 548, Mendoza
Hand Harvested: 100%
Seasonal Detail: The 2023-2024 growing season was splendid, marked by a welcome return to an El Nino weather patter, and more stable weather conditions without dramatic temperature or rainfall extremes.
Summer months were dry and warm, but followed by an "autumnal" finish to the season. A superb season producing wines with fruit intensity and poise.

Winemaking:

Harvest: 15th - 21st March 2024

Processing: 100% whole bunch press. 48 hour settling.

Fermentation: 100% Wild Yeast, High solid fermentation

Fermentation Vessel: 100% Clay Amphora

Maturation: 10 months on gross lees with minimal battonage, followed by 2 months on fine lees, in a stainless steel tank.

Malolactic: 100% natural spring malo

Fining: None Filtration: Coarse Vegan: Yes

Bottling Analysis: 13.5% Alc, 3.25 pH, 6.4 g/L TA, Dry

Full Bottle Weight: 1,165 g

An assemblage of different parcels on marl and limestone soils in Gevingey, 35yo vines on average, facing west. Vinified and aged in foudres with no bâtonnage, the wine was bottled in July the following year. This is a zippy and lean style of chardonnay that is always great. 

Notes on the producer

Natives of the Jura, both Pauline and Géraud’s families owned tiny plots (used to make wine for home consumption) and spending time in the vines in their childhood was enough to give them the wine bug. They met while studying winemaking in Dijon and created Domaine des Marnes Blanches when they returned to the Jura in 2006. They farmed organically from the word go and have added (some planted) parcels along the way to reach a total of 12ha today, spread across three towns in the Sud-Revermont (south of the Côtes-du-Jura AC).

They recently built a new winery off the main road in Ste-Agnès which gives them plenty of space and allows them to vinify and age every parcel separately. Wild yeast fermentation is the norm, wines are fermented in stainless steel and then aged in minimum 5yo 228 to 600ltr barrels. Sulphur is used sparsely for the whites (around 20mg/l total) or not at all for the reds.

Sliced apples, pears, lemon rind and honeysuckle come through the nose and palate. Medium to full bodied with a creamy and crunchy finish. Intense acidity and minerality, like a solid Chablis.

'Our CHABLIS come from parcels situated beside the village of FONTENAY-Près-CHABLIS, at the very heart of Chablis’ vineyards. On high plains or steep hills, all our Chablis grow on stony soils (Kimmeridgien Limestone) which allow a moderate production. Most of our vineyards are between 15 and 25 years old. Some parcels were planted by Gilles’ great grandfather, Marcel, around 1950/1960. Our Chablis are fresh and fruity (white flesh fruits, like peach and pear, with citrus notes), and already showing good minerality.''Grape 100% Chardonnay Food match oysters, shell fish and grilled fish, but also with traditional Burgundy recipes such as “jambom persillé” (ham with parsley)

100% ovum, first use. Skeetfield fruit, unfined and unfiltered. Beautiful nose with subtly mealy citrus fruit. The palate has beautiful texture and finesse. There’s a bright, lively citrus core with fine-grained structure. Such precision and detail with some spicy, mealy richness. There’s amazing intensity and balance here. There are layers of flavour, with lemons, saline notes, and some grapefruit notes. This is profound. Tony Bish says egg Chardonnays don’t need to age as long before release, and may not live as long as barrique aged ones, but can deliver profundity.

2024 Impression White

PURE, FRESH & TEXTURAL BARREL AGED CHARDONNAY

Bright, light yellow/green, it is mouthfilling and vibrant with hints of stonefruit and citrus. Creamy and textural with a refreshing dry mineral finish. Approachable and delicious.

Vintage
2024 was a classic Hawke’s Bay Vintage ideal for Chardonnay.  Warm days, cool nights, resulting in wines with naturally high acidity and intense citrus and stonefruit notes. Exceptionally low yields means exceptional quality and beautiful age worthy wines.

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

Reviews
Sam Kim – Wine Orbit – 95/100

Complex and stylish, the wine shows mango, lemon peel, vanilla and cedar characters on the nose with a hint of sweet pastry. The palate is equally impressive with excellent concentration, splendidly complemented by creamy texture and beautifully infused acidity. Refined and sophisticated with richness as well as poise, finishing persistent and expansive. At its best: now to 2029.”

TASTING NOTE From grapes grown on naturally low-yielding, old vines, this wine is vibrant and complex. Grapefruit, peach and earthy clay pot aromas complement a fresh and focused palate. Fine phenolic texture and mineral acidity add depth and length respectively.  The salinity from the ocean, oak influence, together with juicy tree fruit notes from the grapes, round out what is truly a charming wine. 

VINEYARDS & VITICULTURE Our Waiheke Vineyard is accredited with Sustainable Winegrowing NZ and is entirely owned and managed by Cable Bay Vineyards to ensure we produce the best quality fruit possible. We practice regenerative viticulture. The site is located on the sun-drenched, western side of the island, on steep slopes overlooked by Rangitoto volcano. We have predominantly mineralised clay volcanic soils over Jurassic era rock. This type of geology and soil provides wines with great mid-palate weight and minerality. This wine is a blend of Chardonnay clones 15, 95, 6 and 548. 

WINEMAKING The ripe fruit was hand-harvested early in the morning whilst the grapes were nice and cool, transported across the road to the winery, and immediately whole bunch pressed. It was settled and racked taking light lees, leaving textural Chardonnay juice to enter wild yeast fermentation. We allowed partial malolactic fermentation on this wine, to both develop mouthfeel while preserving the natural acidity of our warmer sub-tropical climate. Following barrel ferment, the wine aged in second use oak puncheons and barriques on full lees for 12 months before assemblage, and then a further 3 months integrating together as a blend in tank, before bottling.