Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Marked by hints of struck flint on the nose, the 2017 Single Vineyard Keltern Vineyard Chardonnay is tight and zesty, marked by lemon-lime notes and a strong acid spine. It's medium-bodied, with hints of toasted cedar and lemon custard on the palate and a long, lingering finish. It should be relatively long-lived for Hawke's Bay Chardonnay, capable of evolving for 4-5 years at least.
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Wine Enthusiast
Villa Maria's single vineyard Hawkes Bay Chardonnay is still a baby. It's a little closed and reductive at first, but with time in glass it starts to open somewhat, revealing a mélange of aromas: citrus, mint, salted nuts, warm stones and some buttery, woody notes. Medium to full bodied, the palate is taut and focused, a high solids style with a creamy texture and more toasty oak influence. A long lemon curd and nut finish hints at great things to come. Drink now with time in a decanter and food or until 2027.
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Wine & Spirits
This vineyard was established 16 years ago on what was once a riverbed, an inland site with gravelly, alluvial soils and cool winds coming off the mountains to the west. You might imagine the river stones right there in the glass, along with crisp peach flesh, red-skinned apples and white cherries. It’s briny and supple, rich refreshment for roast pork with apples.
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Wine Spectator
Rich and succulent, with a dash of butterscotch and lemon meringue and lanolin-scented pear flavors. Complex and intense on the finish.
Founded in 1961 from humble beginnings, Villa Maria is a story of pioneering spirit and a desire to champion the best of New Zealand wine.
From the cool climate region of Marlborough, famous for crisp, refreshing Sauvignon Blanc, to the sun-soaked Hawkes Bay producing world-class reds, their wine is a unique expression of their extraordinary land, passion for excellence and bold spirit.
Their portfolio of highly awarded wines is the most stylistically and regionally diverse in New Zealand, setting them apart and consistently delivering a rewarding wine experience.
As the leading winemakers in Marlborough with an unwavering focus on quality and sustainability, Villa Maria wines are distinctive, vibrant, and most importantly, delicious.
Today, Villa Maria is globally recognized and adored for bold, expressive, and exceptional New Zealand wines.
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.
An eclectic region on the east coast of the North Island, Hawkes Bay extends from wide, fertile, coastal plains, inland, to the coast range, whose peaks reach as high as 5,300 feet. While the flatter areas were historically more popular because they are easier to cultivate, their alluvial soils can be too fertile for vines. In the late 20th century, the drive for quality led growers to the hills where soils are free-draining, limestone-rich and more suited to producing high quality wines.
Over the passing of time, the old Ngaruroro River laid down deep, gravelly beds, which were subsequently exposed after a huge flood in the 1860’s. In the 1980s growers identified this stretch, which continues for approximately 800 ha, and named it the Gimblett Gravels. The zone has proven to be ideal for the production of excellent red wines, particularly Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah.
Today the area takes well-earned recognition for its Bordeaux blends and other reds. Expressive of intense stewed red and black berry with gentle herbaceous characters, Gimblett Gravels wines are suggestive of their cool climate origin, and on par with other top-notch Bordeaux blends around the globe.
Chardonnay is the top white grape in Hawkes Bay, making elegant wines, strong in stone fruit character. Sauvignon blanc comes in close behind, notable for its tropical, fruit forward qualities.