Everybody knows Astrolabe for their revered Sauvignon Blanc but their Chardonnay is yet more proof they do great things across the board. This 2023 vintage is something quite special and for Simon Waghorn whose early career started with making some of those famed Chardonnays for Corbans and Cooks back in the 80's this is a pinnacle. Astrolabe don't enter wine shows – Word of mouth does the advertising and trust us, this is very, very good.
Winery notes (2023 Vintage)
"Aromas of ripe melon and dried stone fruits with vanilla and butter notes and a subtle mealiness. A wine of very elegant texture with stone fruit, vanilla creaminess, toasty oak, pleasing weight and a long, dry and mineral finish.
The fruit was hand-picked and whole bunch pressed. Only the free-run juice was used, and this was fermented in French oak puncheons and barriques, using both select and wild yeast. Frequent bâtonnage, full malolactic fermentation and 9 months’ barrel maturation have added to the texture and complexity. This wine is unfined."
Reviews for the 2020 vintage below…
Rated Outstanding & 95/100 Cameron Douglas MS, April 2022 (2020 Vintage)
"Complex, sophisticated, pure, ripe and very enticing bouquet. Aromas and flavours of apple and grapefruit, white peach and white apricot then apple. There’s a natural fruit spice quality, sea breeze scent and youthful impact from the intensity and use of oak. Delicious, weighty, engaging and fresh on the palate. Flavours mirror the bouquet with near full-bodied texture, some fine tannins and plenty of acidity for structure and breadth. A long finish, this wine is complex as well as delicious, will cellar and age well for the next 2-3 years. Best drinking from mid to late 2023 through 2030+."
5 Stars Michael Cooper (2020 Vintage)
"The delicious 2020 vintage is a top expression of Marlborough Chardonnay. Hand-harvested in the Awatere Valley, it was fermented and matured for nine months in French oak barriques and puncheons. Bright, light lemon/green, with a fragrant, savoury bouquet, it is mouthfilling, fresh and finely poised, with deep stonefruit flavours, complex, very harmonious, well-rounded and lingering."