DOMAINE REWA CHARDONNAY 2023

Winery notes (2023 Vintage)
"Medium straw with clear hues. The nose is fresh with melon, apricot, white flower, brioche and pineapple. The palate is dry with sweet citrus, stone fruit, nougat, lemon curd, honey, pineapple and a hint of toasty oak. Medium bodied, concentrated and complex. Nicely balanced with zesty acidity, flinty minerality and a lingering finish. Organic single vineyard. Clones: Mendoza & 15. Hand harvested 23 March 2023. French oak – 31% new – for 9 months."

Rated Outstanding & 95/100 Cameron Douglas, November 2024 (2023 Vintage)
"Fabulous bouquet of fruit and freshness, varietal signatures of grapefruit and white fleshed stone fruits, there’s a distinctive lees and mineral core offering complexity and power. There is an oak signature as well, distinctive with sweet scented spices. Delicious on the palate, dry, framed by fine ripe fruit flavours and some wood tannins and acidity. The combination of oak flavours, fruit and textures deliver a modern wine with a great mouthfeel and length. Well made with attributes for cellaring as well as drinking from today and through 2029+."

93/100 Erin Larkin, RobertParker.ocm, Wine Advocate, December 2024 (2023 Vintage)
"The 2023 Single Vineyard Chardonnay leads with a flinty, fresh, almost leafy nose with notes of freshly picked curry leaf, cilantro, white peach, asphalt, graphite and green apple. There is underlying almond meal/crushed nuts/malolactic creaminess evident here too. In the mouth, the wine is populated by ripe fruit but attractively saline acidity and a musk-stick sort of chalkiness through the finish. This is an engaging, energetic wine; it is both powerful and distinct."

93/100 Susie Barrie MW & Peter Richards MW (UK), Susie & Peter New Zealand Wines of the Year 2026 (2023 Vintage)
"Domaine Rewa is a small organic estate first planted in 1999 in the foothills of Central Otago’s Pisa Range. From here the Fouberts, Philippa (a native Kiwi from just down the road) and Yannick (a Frenchman) make a range of highly individual wines from Chardonnay, Riesling, Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris. Just 20,000 bottles are produced from their 10-hectare estate and we’re thrilled that two of them have made it into our Wines of the Year. These are wines that cry out to be served by the glass in a natural wine bar setting. They’re artisanal, oxidative in feel, and full of unabashed personality. For the Chardonnay, winemaker Pete Bartle left the juice to wild ferment in a mix of new and used French oak where it stayed on lees for around 8 months. Although the alcohol is relatively high, you’d never know it, and there’s a Chablis-esque feel to its yoghurty, mealy, red apple flavours."

5 Stars & 19/20 (95) Candice Chow, Raymond Chan Reviews, December 2024 (2023 Vintage)
Bright, even, pale yellow gold. The nose is full, with aromas of stonefruit, citrus, vanilla and subtle roasted nuts. Medium-bodied, aromas of lemon curd and grapefruit melded with peach, apricot, delicate spice and roasted almond. The fruit shows purity, balanced ripeness and tangy acidity. Well-portioned oak details added complexity and fine-textured phenolics to the texture. This Chardonnay is elegantly expressed with balance and finesse. Match with scampi and chicken ballotine over the next 6+ years. Handpicked, gently pressed, and settled overnight. The juice then went into barrel for wild ferment and MLF followed. Lees stirred weekly for around 8 months. Aged 10 months in French oak, 31% new oak. 14% alc. BioGro organic certified. 19/20 pts (95 pts) Dec 2024