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.

Reserve Chardonnay

Expertly crafted from our favourite vineyards, our Reserve wines have impressive flavour concentration and palate weight. Adorning every label on every bottle of Rapaura Springs wine is a simple symbol – a circle of rocks that signify the pure spring in our home vineyard in the heart of Marlborough, New Zealand. Our label and our name represent our intimate connection to the pristine waters that collect high in the Southern Alps and are gradually filtered beneath the region’s braided rivers, refreshing the deep underground aquifers that feed our vines, and bubble up in our own Rapaura Springs.

Tasting Notes

Rich and flavourful, each bottle is bursting with honeysuckle, white peach, nectarine and fresh citrus characters, complemented by toasty vanilla and subtle spiced oak characters.

Winemaking Notes

Fruit for our 2021 Reserve Chardonnay is grown predominately in the Southern Valleys sub-region. 2021 was a unique vintage, one of the earliest and shortest on record. The growing season was the third in a series of drought vintages, the stress on the vines was compounded by a huge wind run. The combination of some early frost events and a poor flowering resulted in lower yields and smaller bunches than usual. This, combined with the dry conditions, has meant that disease levels are incredibly low this year, resulting in better flavours and pristine fruit. We’re thrilled with the concentration and intensity of flavour in our 2021 wines.

After the Chardonnay fruit was harvested, the fruit was pressed and the juice fermented with 25% new oak. A secondary malolactic fermentation has softened the wine and added extra texture and complexity to the palate.

Cellaring Recommendation

Enjoy now, or cellar for up to three years.

2020 Tasting Note 2019 Tasting Note