Big brassy Sauvignon Blanc from Nelson with oodles of gooseberry and grassy notes. 

Hillside frost-free site planted over limestone and clay. The oldest Pinot Noir block was planted in 1986 and is still on its own roots, Able clone. Distinct from the Eclipse vineyard because of vastly different geology with the clays that deliver rich, velvety texture. This is perhaps a more approachable wine than Eclipse, but still with elegance and underlying power.

Appearance – Dark ruby, youthful

Bouquet – Immediately pretty and floral, lifted red fruits combine with fine oak and earth/spice aromas. Very complex and seductive.

Palate – Power with elegance. Palate is packed with layers of fruit and spice. Super fine tannins flow alongside balanced acidity delivering long richly textured finish.  

Source - Luna Estate

The aim for this Chardonnay is to retain a fresh structure with a complex palate. It is the vineyards, wild-ferment and barrel characters that make up the complex nose and palate.

This fruit comes from three vineyards; the Taylor Vineyard, which is in the Rapaura area, the Twin Valleys vineyard, which we have been working with since 2003 and a ten rows of Clone 1066 from the Mahi home block.

All of the vines were intensively hand-tended, and the grapes hand-picked and then taken to the winery for whole-cluster pressing. The resulting juice went straight to French oak barrels and fermented with indigenous yeast from the fruit. After fermentation the wine sat on yeast lees for eleven months prior to blending and bottling.

VARIETY: Chardonnay
WINEGROWING TEAM: Brian Bicknell, Phoebe Cathcart, Max Bicknell, our focused growers and brilliant vintage staff
ALCOHOL: 13.6%
TITRATABLE ACIDITY: 6.9 g/L
RESIDUAL SUGAR: 0.35 g/L
BRIX AT HARVEST: 21.9 - 24.9
HARVEST: Hand-picked, 16 March - 4 April

Big, buttery and oaky in taste, Durvillea Chardonnay is the little sister to Astrolabe Chardonnay. It's made with grapes grown in two parts of Marlborough with 66% from the Awatere Valley and 35% from Wairau Valley. 

All grapes in this wine were hand picked then fermented with a combination of wild and cultured yeasts. A portion of barrel fermentation adds weight and structure to this incredibly accessibly priced wine. 

Its flavours are of cream, ripe grapefruit and softness. 

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. 

Trademark wines are only made in a good vintage, with fairly small print runs.  They're drinkers and keepers.  Made from 100% Hawke's Bay gold.

Ripe fruit from three of our Trademark Syrah vineyards planted on limestone hillsides and an old riverbed. It shows admirable ripeness and depth of flavour, retaining vibrancy and great complexity on the nose and palate with typical violet, spice, black cherry and subtle white pepper notes. Supple chalky tannins provide a structure that promise time in bottle will be rewarded.

Mills Reef Winery is based in Tauranga and makes its stellar wines from grapes grown in New Zealand's two biggest wine regions; Marlborough and Hawke's Bay, respectively. 

This dry full bodied and spicy Syrah is made from grapes grown in Hawke's Bay where the warm climate adds weight, spice and ripe fruit flavours. Great drinking and excellent value for money for enjoying now or in the next four to five years.

Dry, flinty, full bodied and creamy with flavoursome ripe apple and honey notes. This Hawke's Bay Chenin Blanc is sure to please both Chardonnay lovers and those who like crisp dry whites without all the bells and whistles too; it successfully straddles a diverse array of wine style thanks to clever winemaking from Rod Easthope, sources grapes from the Two Terraces Vineyard, inland in the Bay and owned by Chenin devotee Ian Quin..

Chenin BLanc is one of the least planted but most promising white grapes in New Zealand and is also one of the world's most versatile, thanks to the wide range of wines that can be made from it - from light to full bodied, still to sparkling and dry to lusciously sweet.

This Chenin Blanc comes from Hawke's Bay winemaker Rod Easthope, who used old barrels to ferment this Chenin, which adds body, weight and savouryness. It drinks well now and can definitely age further too, thanks to the grape's naturally high acidity, which acts as a preservative.

Vineyards
- The McKenzie vineyard is located in Waipara close to the winery. The vineyard is a free draining terrace site. The average age of vines varies from 16 years or older.

Wine Making
- All hand harvested in late April and early May
- Harvest brix ranged from 22-23 brix [% sugar]
- Fermentation was in small vessels [1500L] 3 day cool soak, inoculated with yeast,
fermentation varies from 4-6 days peaking at 32 C then allowed 7-10 days on skins. Some components were given extended skin contact up to 28 days.
- Pressing was in traditional Basket Press
- Cooperage was a mixture of French barrels ranging in age from new to 6+ years. Duration is approx 18 months
- Malo lactic [ML] fermentation is natural starting in Spring and the wine is racked and has a SO2 addition once ML complete.
- Bottling is through 1 micron filter

Bottle Details
- Alcohol 13.0 % by volume
- Acid is 5.5 gm/L [as tartaric]
- Volatile Acidity is 0.45 gm/L
- Residual Sugar is < 1 gm/L

Commercial Description

This Pinot Noir is from our Ballochdale Vineyard, high in the Awatere Valley, Marlborough. This is the first wine Sir George made from this vineyard he acquired in 2023. The vineyard sits at 300m high and is one of the highest and most southerly vineyards in the Awatere Valley, Marlborough.

As soon as we released this wine, it was loved by all. It truly is a gorgeous example of a perfectly crafted Marlborough Pinot Noir. We are so proud to share it with you.

Commercial description

Our Merlot Cabernet Franc comes from our Cornerstone vineyard growing in Hawke's Bays' famed Gimblett Gravels appellation. An area renowned for producing excellent hot climate reds. We think Cornerstone is the jewel in the appellation's crown but there again we are rather biased!

In our Iris blend, the Merlot sets up the palate with ripeness and structure while the Cabernet Franc brings its sweet dried basil notes to create our deliciously good medium-bodied red

From Skypunch vineyard, which lies on the slope next to Home vineyard on Black’s Ave.  We’re leasing and managing  Julianne and Conor’s vineyard here and we’re excited.  In conversion to organic with BioGro 5202.

Aromas of preserved lemon citrus, flint, almond, cardamon, and ginger. The palette is structured and vibrant with unique saline tension. Flavours of new season pear and apricot, white peach and vanilla bean. Un-fined, unfiltered.

TASTING NOTE From grapes grown on naturally low-yielding, old vines, this wine is vibrant and complex. Grapefruit, peach and earthy clay pot aromas complement a fresh and focused palate. Fine phenolic texture and mineral acidity add depth and length respectively.  The salinity from the ocean, oak influence, together with juicy tree fruit notes from the grapes, round out what is truly a charming wine. 

VINEYARDS & VITICULTURE Our Waiheke Vineyard is accredited with Sustainable Winegrowing NZ and is entirely owned and managed by Cable Bay Vineyards to ensure we produce the best quality fruit possible. We practice regenerative viticulture. The site is located on the sun-drenched, western side of the island, on steep slopes overlooked by Rangitoto volcano. We have predominantly mineralised clay volcanic soils over Jurassic era rock. This type of geology and soil provides wines with great mid-palate weight and minerality. This wine is a blend of Chardonnay clones 15, 95, 6 and 548. 

WINEMAKING The ripe fruit was hand-harvested early in the morning whilst the grapes were nice and cool, transported across the road to the winery, and immediately whole bunch pressed. It was settled and racked taking light lees, leaving textural Chardonnay juice to enter wild yeast fermentation. We allowed partial malolactic fermentation on this wine, to both develop mouthfeel while preserving the natural acidity of our warmer sub-tropical climate. Following barrel ferment, the wine aged in second use oak puncheons and barriques on full lees for 12 months before assemblage, and then a further 3 months integrating together as a blend in tank, before bottling.