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.

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.

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.

Nga Waka Chardonnay is one of the biggest selling wines at this Martinborough winery cellar door, thanks to its creamy smooth body, balanced by freshness and vibrant citrus flavour notes. 

This wine offers stunning value for money, delivering a full body, bone dry flavours and a long, refreshing finish, thanks to the bright balanced acidity provided from the cool nights in the Martinborough region.

Palliser Estate Chardonnay is a creamy smooth, super appealing full bodied wine for  Chardonniastas and those who like their Chardonnays crisp and fresh. 

This wine was made from hand picked grapes, all estate grown by Palliser and a high proportion of them certified organic. The wild yeast ferment accentuates oatmeal and savoury notes, which support the fresh nectarine like fruit flavours in this wine. 

The mouthfeel highlights barrel ferment characters of creaminess balanced by a line of ripe acidity. The wine flows with energy, concentration and a rounded core carrying to a long, creamy, nutty finish. This is an elegant and softly concentrated Chardonnay with harmonious layers of flavour. 

This wine is great value for money from winemaker Simon Waghorn, who says Chardonnay is his first love in wine. He makes this creamy, dry and citrusy version from four different clones of Chardonnay, all grown on his family's home block vineyard. 

All grapes were hand picked, whole cluster pressed fermented with wild yeasts in barrel followed by lees aging in French oak with battonage (stirring of the lees). The result is a full bodied wine offering impressive depth and layers of stonefruit and citrusy flavours at a relatively modest price. 

The story of Astrolabe

Diversity, history and family ownership are among the reasons to try the outstanding range of wines from Astrolabe, which was founded in 1996 in Marlborough by winemaker Simon Waghorn and his partner in life and wine, Jane. 

Simon has forged a reputation for being one of New Zealand's most respected producers of aromatic white wines after winning an almost embarrassingly long string of awards for his Sauvignon Blancs. He has also forged a name for adventurously diverse winemaking - he produces dry flinty whites from the most southern vineyard in Marlborough at Kekerengu on the coast about an hour's drive south of Blenheim. He is the only winemaker to produce wines from here. 

He is also one of the few in this country to make Albarino, Chenin Blanc and a consistently outstanding range of wines from the organically certified hillside sloping site that is the Wrekin Vineyard in Marlborough. 

The winery remains family owned and is now run by two generations, including Simon and Jane as well as their adult daughters. 

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 

A Mangatahi Chardonnay from the biogro certified Osawa Vineyard
in Hawkes Bay

Fragrant layers of peach, lemon and chamomile, is followed by a
lively and richly textured palate.

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. 

A small volume, high quality new Chardonnay from Marlborough, which is gaining huge traction with critics, both nationally and globally. 

What the critics say

BOB CAMPBELL MW

“Novum deserves to be on every wine lovers radar” 

JANCIS ROBINSON MW, UK

“Very smart nose fully vindicates my enthusiasm for NZ Chardonnay.

If only all white burgundy smelt this clean and compelling. Crystalline fruit. Good, medium weight of pure fruit that’s already intense but promises much more in the future. Long and complex. No playing around with reduction. A beautiful wine.”

95 Points, Cameron Douglas MS, NZ

"An intriguing almost sensual bouquet of Chardonnay. Aromas of red apple and sweet peach tea, lees spices and white flowers, flint and chalk-like minerality, and a light dusting of fragrant baking spices. Very sophisticated and quite pure on the palate - dry, complex, even and lengthy. A precise palate weight with a youthful acid line, extremely fine wood tannins and fine lees texture. Flavours of white and yellow orchard fruits, wood spices and fine stone-like minerality. A delicious example, modern, youthful, complex and intriguing. Lots to like. Drink now and through 2026." 

This is an elegant Chardonnay with a medium-full body and characteristics of stone-fruit and malo-lactic fermentation. The nose offers rock-melon and peach notes with a touch of oaky vanilla. The palate is juicy and ripe, with a creamy texture and a good dose of acidity.

South Island Chardonnay is on a roll as this tasty drop from Mt Maude in Central Otago shows. Winemakers Sarah Kate and Dan Dineen use hand picked grapes from 27 years old vines to make this dry full bodied, creamy smooth wine. 

The grapes are foot stomped, basket pressed, fermented with indigenous yeasts, and the wine is aged in seasoned French oak to produce what they describe as a seamless wine. We agree. 

Try it. 

Charles Wiffen Chardonnay is a fruity, medium bodied dry white offering flavours of lemon, grapefruit and white peach, given depth by creamy richness and balanced acidity.

It's a top buy at this price and a super tasty wine for everyday enjoyment. 

Chardonnay is the world's most popular and widely consumed white wine, often referred to as the red drinker's white of choice, and it's New Zealand's third most popular grape variety. It thrives in this country's climate, making a wide range of styles, including this full bodied, creamy and fresh dry Chardonnay from Marlborough. A stunner at this price and fab value for money.