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.

Form Jules Taylor...

Chardonnay is one of the unsung heroes of Marlborough but also a wine that can divide the room! Jules’ take on this variety is a far cry from the big buttery Chardonnay-bombs from the 1990s. Instead Jules prefers a wine with delicate freshness and attractive fruit flavours that express the vineyards in which they were grown. With only 10% new oak and a partial malolactic ferment, this elegant wine that will convert even the most die-hard chardonnay-basher!

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.

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.

This is an outstanding new addition to the much loved Esk Valley stable and it successfully straddles the big buttery Chardonnay style with all the subtleties that wine fans adore about the Chardonnay grape too - namely, its crisp, freshness. 

It is part of the new Esk Valley Artisanal Collection wines, which were launched this year and this one is made from clone 95 vines in Hawke’s Bay. The grapes were fermented in French oak with wild yeasts, which gives this wine its rich and nutty flavours, its seductive savoury notes and its full body.

The finished wine went through 50% malolactic fermentation with lees stirring to accentuate and lift the big flavours in this big wine.

Bright, classy and immensely satisfying. The twelve months in barrel have only enhanced the fruity punch of pineapple, peach, and grapefruit all balanced to a fine richness that lasts on the palate.

Simply add a succulent roast chicken with all the trimmings for a relaxing night in.

Grapes in this Chardonnay were all grown at Te Awanga on the Hawke's Bay coast, near to Cape Kidnappers, hence the name. 

This wine was made from 70% hand picked grapes which were 70% whole bunch fermented with the remaining 30% destemmed before fermentation in a combo of French oak and stainless steel tanks. All yeasts were wild and the wine was aged in French oak puncheons, 15% new for eight months. It's a full bodied, dry Chardonnay with intense zingy acidity thanks to the cool climate the grapes were grown in. 

A top quality Chardonnay from Hawke's Bay - offering exceptional value for money at such a modest price. 

Nautilus Chardonnay is one of Marlborough’s most age worthy white wines and a delicious drink right now, especially the 2019 which comes from a great vintage in this country’s largest wine region. The Nautilus winery was founded in 1985 by the Hill-Smith family in South Australia and continues in the same ownership. Long term winemaker Clive Jones has been key in the transformation in quality and perception in Marlborough Chardonnay over the past two decades, thanks to this dry, full bodied, smooth and creamy wine, which ages beautifully (for those with willpower) for up to a decade.

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

Whitehaven’s single vineyard range of wines speak to the importance of terroir in creating unique, premium quality wines, and allow us to showcase outstanding, smaller parcels of fruit identified by our winemakers each vintage. Reflecting the exclusive nature of these wines, each bottle is individually numbered. ‘Fossil Block’ is the name of the vineyard block where fruit for this wine is sourced – named for the ancient Awatere river fossils found at the site.

We have used a lightweight bottle to lessen this wine’s impact on the environment.

Colour / Appearance: Pale-straw yellow.

Aroma / Bouquet: The wine possesses a unique aromatic profile, reflecting where it is grown – the essence of terroir. Lifted and refined, with floral characteristics, white stone fruit and subtle crystalline, flinty and earthy undertones.  

Palate: Concentrated yet delicate, a thread of mineral salinity, reminiscent of river stones, runs through the palate. The distinct mineral structure supports complex stone fruit and citrus flavours. Vibrant acidity carries the wine to a long, flinty finish.  

Cellaring:  Enjoy now for its freshness and purity, or cellar for 5-7 years to reveal richer, more complex flavours and a silky texture.

Food Match: The wine’s vibrant acidity and mineral backbone pair seamlessly with fresh seafood such as oysters, seared scallops or simply grilled fish. The textural depth of the palate would also compliment roasted chicken dishes, creamy risotto, or soft-ripened cheeses.

WINEMAKING NOTES

The fruit for this wine is a blend of Mendoza (42%), Clone 548 (24%), Clone 15 (21%) and Clone 95 (12%) grown on the sandy silt soils of the lower terrace of the Askerne vineyard. Hand-picked and whole bunch pressed, the juice was transferred to barrel for fermentation. The barrels were a mixture of both wild and inoculated ferments and completed 100% malolactic post ferment.  The wine was subsequently aged for 10 months with lees stirring to add volume and complexity. The final blend has a 29% new French oak component, and 15% 2nd fill.

ANALYSIS

pH 3.43
TA 5.4g/L
Alc 13.5%
RS 2.6g/L

TASTING NOTE

Sweet scented with peach, lemon and hints of tropical pineapple, layered with complex notes of coconut, honied nuts and baked fruits.  The palate has wonderful concentration with tropical and stonefruit flavours on a backbone of rich oak spice and vibrant citrus acidity giving generous length.

AWARDS

Silver NZIWS

93 Points Wine Orbit

Sir George Fistonich's new family wine project is Cuvar; Croatian for 'the guardian', which is a good description of his role in the New Zealand wine industry. This wine is a beautiful rich and creamy Chardonnay with balance from fresh acidity that adds length and depth of flavour. 

Here'a a glass of liquid sunshine in a fruity Chardonnay with a hint of oak adding depth to the revitalising fresh flavours of green apples, red apples and ripe grapefruit. This wine has a full body, dry flavours and crispness to burn, thanks to being made from Chardonnay vines grown on the coast at Te Awanga where the cool sea breezes retain freshness in the form of natural acidity in the grapes in this delicious wine. 

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.

Winemaker Karl Johner has a foot in at least three wine camps; the lime-clay hillside slopes of Lime Hill Vineyard is the smallest of them and is situated on the road to Castlepoint in the northern Wairarapa.

An outstanding New Zealand Chardonnay made from that site; its production is tiny but its fleshy, full body and creamy style more than make up for that. 

He also makes wine every year at Gladstone in the Wairarapa and, since the seasons are reversed in each hemisphere, in Germany.