• French oak
• Pineapple & peach
• Vanilla & spice
• Full-bodied & creamy

"A gorgeous offering; the inviting bouquet shows ripe peach, mango, lemon peel and vanillin oak characters, leading to a wonderfully weighted palate that's flavoursome and generous, while remaining elegant and refined. It's filled with delectable fruit flavours backed by stylish oak infusion, finishing long and creamy. At its best: now to 2024" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, Feb 2020

"If you’re looking for seriously juicy Chardonnay that powers pineapple, peach, citrus oils and a luscious lick of spicy, caramelised oak across your olfactories, then this is the business. Beautifully balanced, deliciously smoky (from a full barrel ferment) and showing a raft of fresh, tropical, terrificness, cleansing acidity and creamy, satisfying textures to finish. It’s a very very sippable chardonnay indeed, and should be in the cellar of every Chardonnay fan I think" Yvonne Lorkin, Jul 2020

"Soft, mellow, fruit-focused chardonnay with ripe peach, melon, savoury, struck flint and a suggestion of root ginger and spicy oak. A silken-textured wine with a refreshing acid backbone" Bob Campbell, Master of Wine, Real Review, May 2020

"A lovely delicate complexity with scents of white peach and lemon, streamlined layers of wood spice and gently flinty mineral quality. Youthful, varietal, a core of fruit and enticing sense of place. Delicous on the palate with a silky-cream texture that quickly gives way to a mix of wood spices and citrus, peach and apple, vanilla and a touch of toasty barrel flavours. Medium+ acidity witha core of fruit and smooth dry finish. Balanced and well made with great drinking from day of purchase through 2026" Cameron Douglas, Master Sommelier, May 2022

"Barrel fermentation and malolactic ferment to soften the wine give this wine richness and softness. It was pressed using a Champagne cycle with no press cuts which provides very clean, high quality juice, which was then fermented in French oak and aged for 10 months on lees by Hawke's Bay winemaker Evan Ward. This wine is bone dry and made from 100% Chardonnay Clone 15. It has fresh, clean, creamy flavours and sicy notes from the pronounced oak influence, which is held in good balance thanks to the firm acidity from this wine" Joelle Thomson, May 2020

A delicate, pale straw green. Lifted aromatics of cooler climate fruit sourced from an elevated, inland site in Hawke’s Bay. Ripe fruit characters of peach and melon combine with subtle oak and malolactic fermentation aromas to provide an extremely attractive bouquet. A full-bodied Chardonnay that reflects the intrinsic qualities of the vineyard site and clone. Fruit flavour is to the fore and this is elegantly supported by oak and malolactic fermentation aromas derived from its time in barrel. Yeast lees aging after malolactic fermentation has added further softness and mouthfeel.

100% Hawke’s Bay, vineyard is 34km inland at 175m elevation.

The season started with good amounts of rain in November through to January, mostly falling as short, sharp downpours that had minimal effect on disease pressure. By March the rain had dropped back to only one third the usual amount. Temperatures were all above average by 1-2°C with warmer than usual nights as well. The warm, dry end to the season allowed the Chardonnay fruit to attain full maturity, retaining a good level of natural acidity to ensure freshness and flavour. Climatically there were few challenges and so harvest decisions were able to be made entirely on flavour ripeness.

The fruit was harvested at optimum ripeness from the vineyard that encompasses the winery. It was then whole-berry pressed using a Champagne cycle with no press cuts. Pressing was followed by cold settling to clarify the juice. The clear juice was fermented in new and seasoned French Oak Barriques with a specific Chardonnay yeast and then went through a full malolactic fermentation to add complexity and softness to the palate. After fermenting in barrel, the wine was aged for ten months on yeast lees with fortnightly stirring to encourage extraction of yeast mannoproteins that aid palate weight and roundness.