100% hand-picked Chardonnay, crushed and pressed into old Burgundian French oak barrels for wild yeast fermentation until dry. The wine was matured in barrel for 14-16 months during which time it underwent full malolactic fermentation.

This is a complex Chardonnay with multiple layers of ripe fruit and richness, along with a chalky minerality on the nose. The palate combines fruit weight and balanced acidity with a tight yet generous structure. This is followed by a long lingering pithy citrus finish with and hints of savouriness.

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.

Our Iris Chardonnay comes from the gracious slopes of our Čuvar Terraces Vineyard in Bayview. First planted by George Fistonich in 1986 (he was yet to become Sir), this vineyard has one of the best views in the bay - looking out to the Pacific Ocean. This environment shapes the sunshine of this wine.

The forthright bouquet introduces bursts of candied tropical fruits intertwined with notes reminiscent of warm fruit crumble. Gentle oak wraps around the palate of balanced acid and ripe fruit. Nothing is too dominant — the fruit, oak, acid and flavours all sing in harmony

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.

Mission Estate Jewelstone Chardonnay is a pale straw coloured wine with complex aromatics of sweet stone fruit, marzipan and struck flint notes. The palate is full and fruit forward with a fine structure and a long clean finish.

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.

The vision is to ‘go beyond fruit’, where the aromatics represent a feeling of texture. There is a well-defined oak influence, that embraces the wine. This is combined with more recognisable notes of nougat, fennel seed and a peach-like perfume that show themselves upon closer look.

The mouthfeel is soft, plush and round initially. Then the sense of direction comes through the acidity that salivates and further activates the taste buds. There is a fine balance throughout the mouthfeel of fruit weight, creaminess and acidity that are harmonised by the extended time in large-sized oak barrels.

You can find a classic approach but with a tight lens that brings freshness and playfulness.

WINEMAKING Hand-harvested fruit was pressed the following day, cold. After a light settling, the juice was racked into large format barrels, 300-500 litres, for a spontaneous ferment. Spring malolactic fermentation started naturally in October/November, the wine remained in barrel until the 2024 harvest started. It was then transferred into large 1000litre oak vessels for another 4 months of maturation on lees. 

TECHNICAL INFORMATION Vineyard source(s): McCreanor Vineyard, 37 Princess Street, Martinborough, NZ Harvest dates: 20 March - 31 March      |      Harvest Brix: 22.5 - 23.5 Brix Alcohol by Volume: 12.5%     |     pH 3.41      |     TA: 5.8 g/l

Chardonnay is what made Gisborne famous and one sip of this and you?ll see why. Complex with layered citrus- and stone fruit aromas, lifted by savoury yeast and nutty oak characters, the palate sensation is both fresh and textured. The wine delivers Gisborne?s bold elegance with a long and seamless finish. Ripe and weighty fruit flavours without the heat of excess alcohol. Big wine, beautiful wine, with a taste that will linger for ages.

Koparepare Chardonnay shows just how excellent Marlborough's second most planted grape can be. It's creamy, refreshing, full bodied and offers great value for money. 

A portion of the sale of every bottle of Koparepare wines goes to support  LegaSea, a not for profit organisation set up by the New Zealand Sport Fishing Council in 2012 to raise awareness of the marine environment and inspire public support.

Whitehaven Wines was founded by Greg and Sue White in 1994 after they sailed into the Marlborough Sounds to shelter from a storm in the early 1990s and fell for the natural beauty of the region and the haven it provided. So they decided to take the next natural step - set up a winery back on dry land, naming it, naturally enough, Whitehaven.

Felton Road Block 6 Chardonnay is made from a north facing warm site which is biodynamically and organically certified in Bannockburn, Central Otago.

This vineyard produces grapes with a broad fruit expression which makes dry full bodied wines in an extremely commanding style. The wine spends 16 months in barrel and gains massive textural qualities from this long aging time, pre bottling.

It's a great white from the world's southernmost wine region. Drinks well now and can age.

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. 

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. 

Fresh, delicate aromas of almond, stone fruit with a hint of old oak. Cirrus is the rounder of the two Chardonnays with lovely ripe, textural tropical stone fruits wrapped with moreish, mouth-filling phenolics.

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.

Beautiful big styled Chardonnay with all the bells of whistles. Flavours of ripe citrus, spicy oak and nutty aromas all add complexity to this full bodied Chardonnay, which was aged in French oak to add weight and soften the succulent citrusy acidity in this lingering, flavoursome wine. 

Hawke’s Bay winemakers Tim Turvey (founder of Clearview Estate) and Matt Kirby consistently make this reserve Chardonnay in a rich, full flavoured style with creamy, buttery flavours to the fore and a full body adding to its crowd pleasing appeal. If you’re among the majority of Chardonnistas who love big buttery styles, look no further than this tasty drop from the long established Clearview on the coast at Te Awanga.

About Clearview Estate

Clearview Estate is one of oldest, most well established wineries in Hawke's Bay and is situated on the Te Awanga Coast, south of Napier. It's a great place to visit for tastings at the cellar door as well as lunch in the dappled shade of the established courtyard area. The winery was founded by Tim Turvey, winemaker and co-owner. The current winemaker is the multi talented Matt Kirby.

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