Chardonnay

100% Chardonnay from Waitaki Valley in North Otago

Whole bunch pressed, wild yeast, lees stirring and fermented in oak prior to ageing for 8 months in 18% new oak.

The nose is elegantly full with focus, penetrating aromas of peach, citrus, oyster shells, spice and cream that follow through into the medium bodied palate.

A small volume, high quality new Chardonnay from Marlborough, which is gaining huge traction with critics, both nationally and globally. 

What the critics say

BOB CAMPBELL MW

?Novum deserves to be on every wine lovers radar? 

JANCIS ROBINSON MW, UK

?Very smart nose fully vindicates my enthusiasm for NZ Chardonnay.

If only all white burgundy smelt this clean and compelling. Crystalline fruit. Good, medium weight of pure fruit that?s already intense but promises much more in the future. Long and complex. No playing around with reduction. A beautiful wine.?

95 Points, Cameron Douglas MS, NZ

"An intriguing almost sensual bouquet of Chardonnay. Aromas of red apple and sweet peach tea, lees spices and white flowers, flint and chalk-like minerality, and a light dusting of fragrant baking spices. Very sophisticated and quite pure on the palate - dry, complex, even and lengthy. A precise palate weight with a youthful acid line, extremely fine wood tannins and fine lees texture. Flavours of white and yellow orchard fruits, wood spices and fine stone-like minerality. A delicious example, modern, youthful, complex and intriguing. Lots to like. Drink now and through 2026." 

Oblix Chardonnay is a creamy, silky smooth new addition to Hawke's Bay's wine scene. The Bay is the leading Chardonnay region in New Zealand and this wine comes from Sir George Fistonich, a man with a long history of producing outstanding, full bodied dry whites with restraint, character and elegance from the Bay. This wine was made with grapes grown on the Gimblett Gravels. All grapes were hand picked and fermented with wild yeasts with 100 per cent barrel fermentation followed by ageing in a combination of barriques and puncheons, partially new but mostly older; 42% new and 58% seasoned French oak.

Winemaker Rebecca Salmond does a super job producing this dry, full bodied, boldly flavoursome Gisborne Chardonnay each year. 

If you're after a big, creamy style, this will tick all the right boxes and delivers peachy stonefruit characters too. A tasty wine for drinking in a large glass, lightly chilled.

Odyssey Wines is owned by winemaker Rebecca Salmond, who sources grapes from a number of different regions. She produces exceptionally good value wines, including this full bodied, creamy big Chardonnay from Gisborne; the fifth biggest wine region in New Zealand - and aptly named the country's Chardonnay Capital.

Palliser Estate Chardonnay is a creamy smooth, super appealing full bodied wine for  Chardonniastas and those who like their Chardonnays crisp and fresh. 

This wine was made from hand picked grapes, all estate grown by Palliser and a high proportion of them certified organic. The wild yeast ferment accentuates oatmeal and savoury notes, which support the fresh nectarine like fruit flavours in this wine. 

The mouthfeel highlights barrel ferment characters of creaminess balanced by a line of ripe acidity. The wine flows with energy, concentration and a rounded core carrying to a long, creamy, nutty finish. This is an elegant and softly concentrated Chardonnay with harmonious layers of flavour. 

Ripe citrus aromas of navel orange and peach, a medley of nougat and vanilla notes to add to the complexity and interest on the nose. A silky attack with sweet fruit flavours of peach and navel orange in the rich textural mid palate and with hints of nougat and vanilla balanced with fine oak and lingering citrus finish. - Paritua ALCOHOL: 13.5%

Pask Declaration Chardonnay is a rich and complex wine of depth, structure and elegance. The palate offers typical stone-fruit and ripe fruit characters; lees aged complexity and new oak notes. This is a beautiful Chardonnay with excellent aging ability.

Made from a blend of 60% Waiheke and 40% Gisborne Chardonnay grapes, this wine is perfectly balanced with a delicious long finish highlighting the almost 12 months the wine has spent in barrel.

Rich and concentrated with nectarine, lime and passion-fruit with toasty vanilla slight, buttery element and butterscotch undertones.

One of the South Island's most powerful, full bodied, dry and rewardingly complex Chardonnays. The talented Pegasus Bay winemaking team produce this exceptional wine with its flavours of ripe citrus, honeydew melon and stone fruit (peach and nectarine). Notes of flintyness add complexity and a long finish. There are also some underlying savoury notes (toast and brioche) as a result of the secondary fermentation and lees contact in the barrel. The palate is concentrated, however, the earlier picking has resulted in a wine that remains elegant and focussed, with refreshing acidity and a lingering finish.

One of New Zealand's top five Chardonnays, in our view, and consistently outstanding, both on release and for the long haul in a dark, cool cellar. The next vintage of the great Pegasus Bay VIrtuoso Chardonnay is 2020 and the wine will be released during 2024; according to the winemaking team at family owned, Pegasus Bay Winery, they are tasting the wine regularly and will release it "When we feel it is at its optimum".  We look forward to sharing this great wine with you, our customers, when it arrives in. 

And in the meantime, for a powerful full bodied Chardonnay with all the bells and whistles, we await the next vintage of Virtuoso. 

The wine regularly spends 50% in new French oak. It's the top Chardonnay from Pegasus Bay winery in North Canterbury. Flavours span the range from candied citrusy acidity of lemons, ripe orange and a hint of mandarin and white peach. It's a blend of the tastiest barrels of Chardonnay each year and will continue to evolve beautifully for the next five to six years, potentially even longer. 

Pencarrow Chardonnay is made by Palliser Estate, one of Martinborough's biggest wineries. The grapes in this dry, creamy wine come from the estate's Om Santi and Clouston vineyards, 70% of which were wild fermented in barrel with lees stirring for added weight. The finished wine was matured in 20% new French oak barrels for 10 months by winemaker Guy McMaster.

Vegan and Certified Organic

Prophet's Rock winemaker Paul Pujol produced precious little of this Chardonnay - just six barrels were made from hand picked grapes grown at Lowburn in Central Otago. The wine was fermented with wild yeasts and all up it received 15% new oak, with the remainder being older barrels. This wine is set to become a collector's piece, not least because it was inspired by and made in collaboration with a French winemaker. Prophet's Rock winemaker Paul Pujol and Burgundy winemaker, Francois Millet of Comptes de Vogue in Chambolle-Musigny joined forces to produce this fitting match to the outstanding Pinots from this wine brand.

An outstanding full bodied, complex Chardonnay with fantastic fresh citrusy acidity adding depth to every succulent sip. Flavours of cream and spice add layers of flavour to this Chardonnay, which is one of North Canterbury's best whites. All grapes in this wine were hand picked from the Pyramid Valley home block vineyard.