ASKERNE RESERVE CHARDONNAY 2024

This is one of our most popular chardonnays at this price point. The juicy Hawkes Bay fruit characters (think peaches and nectarines) come through and backed by layers of spicy oak and complex winemaking flavours with a hints of flintiness. So tasty!

Winery notes (2024 Vintage)
"Intense aromas of ripe lemon and baked peach, layered with perfumed florals, sweet scented oak spice, and limey mineral notes. The palate is textural and broad, but structured with rich oak spice, concentrated juicy citrus and stone fruit flavours, and vibrant acidity that provides wonderful length.

The fruit for this wine is a blend of Mendoza (35%), Clone 548 (26%), Clone 15 (21%), Clone 1066 (14%) and Clone 95 (4%) grown on the sandy silt soils of the Askerne vineyard. Hand-picked and whole bunch pressed, the juice was transferred to barrel for fermentation. The barrels were predominantly wild fermented, and 40% of the blend completed malolactic fermentation.  The wine was subsequently aged for 10 months with some lees stirring to add volume and complexity. The final blend has a 36% new French oak component, and 44% 2nd fill."

5 Stars & 95/100 Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, April 2025 (2024 Vintage)
"Stylish and complex, the wine shows ripe apricot, rockmelon, lemon peel, nougat, and cedar characters on the nose, followed by a concentrated palate that's finely flowing and persistent. Wonderfully composed and expressed with finesse and generosity, offering terrific drinking. At its best: now to 2031."

94/100 David Walker Bell, WineFolio.co.nz, June 2025 (2024 Vintage)
"A wine from Hawke’s Bay – this expression has been steadily climbing in recognition over recent years… to the point that it has been an ever-present in all of the ‘Hawke’s Bay Annual Chardonnay Collection’ boxes that are released to showcase the best wines of the vintage from the region. A pale golden colour in the glass, with a touch of lime green at the edges. The perfume is bold and youthful with nectarine, grapefruit, jalapeño, baking spice, nougat and lemon curd. Acidity drives the palate, with a fresh directness. But there’s also a ripe richness backed with some spicy oak, that will appeal to customers looking for a ‘bigger’ expresssion of Chardonnay. Great line and length throughout, into a dry, lengthy finish."

Rated Excellent & 94/100 Cameron Douglas MS, April 2025 (2024 Vintage)
"Excellent bouquet filled with scents of ripe yellow and white stone fruits, citrus and layers of barrel spices and some wood smoke. Lots of purity and freshness. Dry, weighty, taut and satin-smooth as the wine touches the palate. Flavours of citrus then apple, peach then baking spices, smoky wood tones and crumbled earth and stone suggestions. There’s a fine flinty layer adding complexity as well as intrigue. Lengthy and quite delicious with best drinking from 2026 through 2030+."