Single Vineyard: Reed Vineyard
Subregion: Waihopai Valley
Region: Marlborough 
Vintage: 2019
Soil Type: Moderate to low-vigour, thin topsoil on stone and clays
Clone: 100% Clone 95
Viticulture: NZ Sustainably Certified
Growers: Pete and Anne Reed

Winemaker's Notes: 

The Reed Vineyard Chardonnay is an incredibly textured, savoury wine. It summons a tightly-coiled white peach, grapefruit and toasted hazelnut aroma profile, which is complemented by complex flint and silex nuances. Its vividly sketched acidity allows it to carry the powerful but savoury oak in a defined yet impressive manner. This is a wine for drinking now for its crystalline purity, or cellaring and reaping the benefits of tertiary development in many years to come.

Reviews: 

"The finest French oak-aged Kiwi Chardonnay I have tasted here all year. Gorgeous French oak-aged Kiwi, with all the honey-flecked, toasted hazelnut oomph of the Cote d'Or."  Jane MacQuitty, The Times (UK), October 2020

95 Points "A finely poised yet powerful Chardonnay that has just the right amount of reductive flint character, adding a layer of complexity to this savory, stylish wine. Wild fermentation in oak puncheons followed by an extended period on lees has resulted in rounded edges while adding smoky and nutty flavors. It has lovely sinew on the long finish." Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous Media, November 2020.

95 Points,  “Impressive purity and power with peach, nectarine fruit flavours together with a subtle struck-flint mineral, reductive character and a pleasing savoury note. A taut, elegant chardonnay that’s good now but promises to get even better with bottle age." 2/6/2020. Bob Campbell MW, The Real Review

94 Points "Sophisticated and complex bouquet of Chardonnay with aromas of gun-flint and oak spices, moments of lemon and grapefruit then yellow fleshed orchard fruit. The second and third sniffs reveal a mineral, stone and textured complexity. The bouquet overall is very youthful and vibrant with the messages of oak strong. On the palate - equally expressive, youthful and complex. Flavours reflect the nose with citrus then oak. Fine wood tannins with a smoky edge, medium+ acidity and palate trill. While this wine is very young it has fantastic potential that Chardonnay fans should invest in and and cellar some bottles. Best drinking from early 2022 through 2026+." 31/05/20 Cameron Douglas MS

5 stars ***** "Slightly more extroverted at this stage than its Escaroth stablemate, the classy 2019 vintage (5*) is a single-vineyard, Waihopai Valley wine, hand-picked and fermented with indigenous yeasts in French oak puncheons (40 per cent new). Bright, light lemon/green, it is mouthfilling and savoury, with concentrated, citrusy, peachy flavours, finely integrated oak and impressive complexity. A powerful, distinctive wine with obvious potential, it’s best cellared to 2022+." Michael Cooper, Michael Cooper's Buyer's Guide 2021

View Tasting Notes - 2019 | 2018 

View the Reed Vineyard