The Elspeth range is Mills Reef's top tier line of wines, made from their own vineyards in the Gimblett Gravels, Hawkes Bay.

"This distinguished single vineyard Chardonnay exudes presence and finesse. The palate is wonderfully mouth-filling and creamy, with intense peach and apricot flavours in harmony with fine French oak seasoning, leading to a satisfyingly long soft and spicy finish. Instantly appealing, enjoy now or allow to age gracefully with careful cellaring." - Winemaker's notes.

Chablis is one of the great white wine regions of the world in its northernmost location in Burgundy. This wine is a beautiful balanced expression of Chardonnay with fresh aromas of white flowers, brioche and leafy notes. The palate reveals power, richness and finness with mineral, mellowness and vivacious flavours of white peach, citrus and creamy mouthfeel in a complex dry white. 

The most flavoursome Chardonnay barrels are selected after a year of aging and then blended together to make this pinnacle of Seresin's dry, full bodied white wines, the Reserve Chardonnay. The reserve wine spends another six months in old oak puncheons, gaining depth, complexity and integration of flavour thanks to this additional maturation. 

Organic certification

The organic story at Seresin

One of the greatest things about Seresin Estate is the organic certification. This came relatively early on for Seresin, who was dismayed by the amount used and the impacts of man made chemicals, which were routinely and frequently sprayed on vines. His early adopting philosophy of organic certification paved a positive path for the integrity of the wines as well as leading others to follow suit.

Full bodied, dry, smooth and creamy wine, which has great tension and finely balanced acidity in every succulent sip. Here's a Chardonnay that succeeds admirably in highlighting all the bells and whistles that white wine lovers enjoy in their favourite full bodied white, but also has the restraint of a beautifully balanced wine. 

Organic certification

The organic story at Seresin

One of the greatest things about Seresin Estate is the organic certification. This came relatively early on for Seresin, who was dismayed by the amount used and the impacts of man made chemicals, which were routinely and frequently sprayed on vines. His early adopting philosophy of organic certification paved a positive path for the integrity of the wines as well as leading others to follow suit.

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.

Rosie's Block Chardonnay captures the best of Nelson in a full bodied, beautifully balanced and crisp Chardonnay with creamy nuances and a lingering dry finish. 

It is named after Rosie Finn, second generation wine family member and daughter of Tim and Judy Finn, who co founded Neudorf Vineyards.

The Main Divide is the name of the majestic Southern Alps, which form the backbone of the South Island of New Zealand. It is also the name of a range of outstanding, approachable priced drink-me-now styled wines from Pegasus Bay winery in North Canterbury. 

These wines consistently punch well above their price weight, including this Chardonnay, which is made from hand picked grapes, which were whole bunch pressed into large French oak puncheons and fermented with the grape's natural yeasts then matured on yeast lees for a year. Full bodied, creamy, bold and powerful.

The 2019 Zen is the best vintage yet produced of this outstanding full bodied, nutty, creamy, new world take on one of the great classic wines of the world. 

Tony Bish is Hawke's Bay best known, most dedicated Chardonnay specialist and Zen is his top wine. He has forged a name for himself as Hawke's Bay's king of Chardonnay and he named Zen after a challenging year because he felt zen when making it. The grapes all come from the highly rated Skeetfield Vineyard in the Bay and the wine was aged in a Taransaud oak ovum, a large egg shaped fermentation vessel, which was made specially for Tony, to create a full bodied, elegant, smooth Chardonnay in an environment that optimises lees contact during winemaking. 

Martinborough Vineyard has a long and illustrious history as one of the first four vineyards and wineries in Martinborough in the Wairarapa. It was established in 1980 by Kiwis who are passionate about wine, in particular Pinot Noir. 

Today the business is owned by Californian based Bill Foley of Foley Family Vineyards. The winemaker is Paul Mason, who makes this full bodied, dry, creamy Chardonnay from 25 year old vines on the home block vineyard at the winery in Martins Road, Martinborough.

Tasting Notes
Aromas of ripe peach abound, with subtle undertones of buttery oak and a refreshing citrus acid backbone, adding layers of complexity. A balance of fresh fruit, malolactic and oak influences have resulted in a full bodied wine with stone fruit flavours, buttery, nutty notes and Meyer lemon freshness.

Winemaker's Notes
100% fermented and aged in older French oak barrels, sur lie. 100% MLF. 10 months in barrel before being blended to tank, ready for bottling.


Food Match
Roast chicken & mushroom risotto
Roast Salmon with herby cous cous salad
Butternut Squash Cannelloni

This lovely creamy Chablis village wine is a perfect introduction to the minerality of  the Chablis AOC, the northernmost outpost of the Burgundy region in north east France. In its youth, this wine is generous and lively, with notes of lemon, oyster shell and flint. After 10 years or more, the aromas become far more powerful, with notes of gun-flint and undergrowth. In the great vintages, it can be kept for more than 20 years.

It's a great food match with cheese puff pastries and any type of seafood.

Kumeu River Hunting Hill Chardonnay is made from a vineyard that was first planted in 1982 and originally produces grapes that formed a significant part of the original Kumeu River Chardonnay blend. The Hunting Hill Vineyard overlooks Maté's Vineyard in Kumeu and replanted in 2000, since then producing such outstanding grapes that the winemaking Brajkovich family decided to produce a single vineyard wine from here. 

Hunting Hill has elevated acidity which lends this wine both a delicious vibrancy in its youth as well as great aging potential and longevity. It is fresh, piercingly zesty and full bodied with dry, savoury flavours and a long, tangy finish. 

One of New Zealand's greatest Chardonnays both for drinking now and for cellaring for the long term. 

Kumeu River Wines began life as San Marino Wines in 1944 when Croatian immigrant couple, Mick and Katé 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. 

Winemakers Notes:

Commercial description

With our Chardonnay we give a maceration of the whole bunches before pressing which increases the amount of grape solids in the juice to give greater intensity of varietal character and structure. Once fermentation is finished we add small amounts of sulphur at each topping to preserve the freshness and fruitfulness of the wine. We do not stir the lees or allow the wine to go through malolactic fermentation. 

Man O’ War Chardonnay exhibits intense ripe stone fruit characters with subtle hints passionfruit seed and a nutty lees influence.