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 

This distinguished Cabernet Merlot is made from ultra-premium grapes (73% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc) grown on low-yielding vines in the Mere Road Vineyard, situated in the celebrated stony soils of the Gimblett Gravels district in Hawkes Bay. Medium to full bodied, it bursts with notes of black fruits, plum, chocolate, and liquorice intertwined with beautifully refined tannins, yielding a distinguished silky smooth wine.

This Cabernet Malbec is made up of Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Cabernet Franc. The varieties were hand-picked, de-stemmed and fermented separately in small open topped vats where they were gently hand plunged and pumped over to aid in extracting the maximum amount of flavour and colour from the berries. Following an extended maceration period the wine was transferred into French oak barrels where it spent 11 months.

This is a dark and brooding beast with fruits of the forest including Black Doris plum and spiced cherry. It is rich and powerful on the palate with a silky mouthfeel and well-pitched tannins. Attractively rounded with upfront fruit flavours this wine is very attractive now but will certainly reward with time in the cellar. Drink now through till 2030.

Mills Reef Winery has a well deserved reputation for making some of New Zealand's creamiest, most approachable and delicious Chardonnays from Hawke's Bay grapes. This wine is a great example with its full body, dry flavours and creamy textures. 

Mills Reef winery is in Tauranga. Its owners source their grapes from Hawke's Bay and Marlborough.

15 Minute Bottles is Tom & Anne (Central Otago) alongside Dave & Lana (North Canterbury). Their eclectic backgrounds in wine, hospitality and agriculture have culminated in this project, producing the kind of lively, energetic wines that they love to drink.
15 Minute Bottles sources fruit from family owned and operated vineyards who are both certified and practising organic.
Their exposure to energetic and thought-provoking natural wines coined the phrase “15 Minute Bottle,” which represents their collective ethos towards drinking wine, where a bottle is shared around a table, inspiring conversation, conviviality and connection.

Certified organic fruit from Mt Edward’s Pisa Terrace vineyard. Fine loam over alluvial gravels. 100% whole bunch ferment in stainless steel for thirteen days. Pressed to barrel for six months, then aged in stainless steel for a further seven
months. Honeycomb and flint. Round and robust with a salty acidic thread.

Unfined and unfiltered. Minimal added sulphites.