Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This is extremely well-made, with sliced dried apples, apple tart, flint and matchstick as well as a hints of smoke. It’s medium-bodied with lovely fruit and a light bitterness that gives complexity and presence. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Planted in 1983, this is from one of the oldest Chardonnay vineyards in New Zealand. On the nose, this 2022 Springs Chardonnay leads with cheesecloth and brine, tatami mat, torched lemongrass, yuzu curd, blond tobacco, and white pepper. It’s a superb-looking wine, complex and undulating but tethered to an acidic track in the mouth, so the impression is one of rich composure and focus.
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Wine Enthusiast
This strikes a lovely balance between richness and brightness, combining smoke, nut and toast characteristics with lemon curd and white peach. Acidity is mouthwatering, buoying the textural weight, fruit and oak influence. This is a smart wine that could age nicely over the next five to eight years.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
On the central eastern coast of the South Island, Canterbury includes a collection of small and varied subregions. The region is cool and dry with low rainfall and light, infertile soils. Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir are well-suited here, with Pinot Gris coming in third place.