An expression of Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay that you’ll find a few reviews of on Winefolio over the years (from multiple vintages) – and almost all of them at Gold Medal scores. This, I think, is the first of this vintage though – the 2015 sealed under screwcap. At eleven years in bottle, it still comes across as a classic of its style – after all, it was the Champion Wine of Show at the New Zealand International Wine Show.
A bouquet that is filled with grapefruit, peach, apricot, cashew nut, lemon rind, and lemon marmalade. The palate is full-bodied and boisterous where that succulence of fruit comes forward and plenty of nutty oak sits at the edges too. Enough acidity to keep the flavours moving, and there is a marked development in the glass as you taste over even a few minutes. Complex and with layers of interest that reveal themselves along the way – including a mealy, creamy texture and some spicy notes at the back of the palate. Still in prime drinking condition. 96pts
