Reserve Marlborough Chardonnay

Our Rapaura Springs Reserve Chardonnay is rich and flavourful. Each bottle is bursting with honeysuckle, white peach, nectarine and fresh citrus, all complemented by toasty vanilla and subtle spiced oak characters.

Winemaking

The 2023 growing season started with above average bunch numbers in most districts in Marlborough. Unsettled and cooler weather over flowering resulted in loose and lighter bunches, with the net effect of producing average yields across most varieties and regions. The weather around the time of veraison was unstable, and at times threatening. We just missed out on the destruction of the cyclone that hit the east coast of the North Island. The weather then settled into a pattern reminiscent of the harvests in the early 2000s.

The nights were particularly cool, and this helped to arrest any small levels of botrytis that had started in the early unsettled weather. It was a vintage where patience was rewarded and those who waited harvested fully ripe grapes with concentrated flavours and classic acidity. After harvest, the Chardonnay fruit was pressed, racked clear, and the juice fermented with 25% new oak. A partial secondary malolactic fermentation has softened the wine and added extra texture and complexity to the palate.

2023 Tasting Note 2022 Tasting Note 2021 Tasting Note