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.

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Commercial description

Bordering the old Waiheke Air Strip this vineyard produces world-class Cabernet Sauvignon & Merlot.

Planted when their children were barely walking, John and Paul Dunleavy’s vines have matured over two decades and, like their children, bring their own unique character to this wine.

Aged in barrels for 10 months, but made in a forward, fruit driven style to be enjoyed in youth, The Strip will continue to improve over time with careful cellaring.

A complex aroma of black plum and cocoa, black olive, with fine cedary notes and hints of leather, star anise, clove and aromatic spices. The palate is plush and rich, with seamless tannins and concentrated black Doris plum flavours, complex spice notes and a long savoury finish. This wine will improve with cellaring.

Dog Point Vineyards has the largest amount of certified organic vineyard land in New Zealand, thanks to its visionary founders, Ivan Sutherland and James Healy, who grow grapes for themselves and sell to a number of other winemakers in this country. 

The Dog Point Sauvignon Blanc is one of Marlborough's best, thanks to high quality grapes, post ferment lees aging and the result is a dry, medium bodied white from one of the world's biggest Sauvignon regions. This is an iconic wine from an exceptionally dedicated winemaking team.

An exceptional dry, full bodied, smooth and complex red from a great vintage, 2020, in Hawke's Bay. This blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and  Cabernet Franc is made from hand picked grapes and it massively over delivers on taste, complexity and its incredible depth of flavour from spending 18 months ageing in French oak. The flavours are outrageously good in this lovely red. 

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.”

Dark crimson in colour, this wine is brooding with a rich, bold, and powerful bouquet of savoury red berry fruit, aromas of sweet raspberries, framboise liqueur and sweet vanilla. Lush, juicy, and very appealing savoury tannins give the wine great texture.

We expect this wine to reward careful cellaring over 7-10 years.

Palliser Riesling is one of Martinborough's best kept white wine secrets and has texture and depth from 10% of the grapes being fermented in oak, with the balance in stainless steel and a finished residual sugar of 13.5 grams, which means this wine is medium dry - but it tastes crisp, citrusy and has great length. The finish is fresh and dry. 

Grapes in this wine come from Om Santi Vineyard (51%), with the balance split between Pinnacles and Palliser Vineyards.  

In conversion to organic certification.

Commercial description

Single-vineyard, premium Pinot Noir.  

A wine whose character has intrigued us throughout its development.  Flavours flowed and receded throughout ferment.  Texture shifting from weighty to silky.  It was deceptive, multifaceted.  Not to be taken at face value.  This is a princess in overalls.  A poet painting fences.

Lit with a pure bright brilliance in colour. Classic Wairarapa expression - complex savoury flavours on a silky bed of pert & poised acidity & complementary tannins.

For us, flavours evoked include dark cherry, vanilla & mushroom.  There's a sense of black liquorice strap & dark cocoa too.  Whatever you find, very confident you will agree this is sensuous, balanced & complex wine.  Sophisticated & powerful. Worthy of your time.  Will cellar well.

Hand-harvested by neighbours & friends.

A blend of 66% Pinot Noir and 34% Chardonnay this Methode Traditionnelle has had a minimum 3 years aging on lees to produce a finely structured wine rich in complex yeasty aromas and flavours.  Finished in a brut savage style, (4g/l residual sugar) it will enhance any celebration.

Stony soils, hot days and cool nights make Craggy Range's Gimblett Chardonnay the dry, full bodied, fleshy white wine that it is. Grapes were 100% destemmed and fermented in French oak barriques with a combination of indigenous and innoculated yeasts followed by nine months aging in barriques, 23% new.
The result is a creamy, smooth, dry Chardonnay for drinking now and over the next four to five years. 

A stunner. Great value for money.

Lorenzo the Magnificent is made from the incredible 2024 Hawke’s bay grape harvest. The wine takes inspiration from Italian adventures and stories of the Renaissance patron of the arts, Lorenzo de Medici. A blend bringing together the noble grape varieties of Bordeaux and Tuscany – 62% Cabernet Sauvignon and 38% Sangiovese.

In Ollie’s experience, he has never come across such a spellbinding wine. The blend speaks of the earth, with captivating aromas of the purest of dark fruits encased in bramble and wood smoke and a fine seam of graphite. Texturally the wine is rich and structured with plush tannins derived from perfectly ripe red grapes. 

The grapes are harvested meticulously by hand, then destemmed before being fermented and aged in Italian ceramic and clay vessels. The use of Clay Amphorae, handmade in Hungary, allows for longer skin contact with the wine after fermentation which helps to build rich, velvety tannins and texture. Ollie also had a chance introduction to a local potter John Gisborne who had made a beautiful 120 litre clay egg that came very close to floating away during the huge flood of 2023. It survived and became the perfect vessel to age the pressed Sangiovese wine. Gravity is used for wine movements within the cellar and natural settling without filtration. May contain traces of romance.

Each bottle has a unique wax seal to ensure authenticity and presented in a premium gift box.

 225 bottles produced.