A wine that has been awarded ‘Best International Chardonnay’ at the International Wine Challenge (IWC) in May 2024. The wine also won the ‘New Zealand White Trophy’ and the ‘New Zealand Chardonnay Trophy’. A vibrant green-gold colour in the glass. The perfume is extraordinary – you can smell it being opened from across the table. Golden peach, popcorn, baked apple, cashew nut, grapefruit, lemon marmalade, marzipan and butterscotch sit alongside a bloom of flinty struck-match reductivity. A perky acidity leads the palate, slightly saline, and with a crispness and directness that gives line and drive. Richly concentrated, there is a shift to tropical fruit flavours – very ripe and unctuous. Oak is noted – gravelly and toasted, but doesn’t burden the agility in the palate. Youthful, with energy and verve, this bold wine is no shrinking violet. A softer finish, with a creamy texture emerging and a finish that shows a dry phenolic and is very long. 95pts
Church Road Grand Reserve Chardonnay 2021
