Winery notes (2021 Vintage)
"A classic Valhalla Chardonnay, the 2021 has a rich golden hue with masses of smoky, nutty, and savoury aromas balanced with citrus and stone fruits. The palate is equally rich and ripe with great palate depth balanced with vibrant citrus notes and a maritime freshness. The tannins are structured to complement the acid profile providing a salivating appeal designed to freshen the palate and allow the drinker to delve further into the bottle… Drink now or enjoy for a decade.
The 2021 Valhalla Chardonnay is hand picked off our steep dry farmed vineyards ranging from sheltered south facing clay hillsides to elevated and exposed volcanic sites. All our Chardonnay parcels are hand harvested and bunch sorted in the winery before being macerated prior to pressing. Un-fined and with the solids mixed, the juice undergoes a spontaneous fermentation. The fermenting juice is then transferred to large format barrels for fermentation which is hot hard and fast peaking at about 32 degrees. The wines are left on gross lees in puncheon until Spring and are then sulphured to prevent Malolactic fermentation. After 11 months the wine is racked once to the blend."
93/100 Bob Campbell MW, The Real Review, July 2023 (2021 Vintage)
"Rich, almost luscious wine with tropical fruits, peach, oyster shell and spicy oak flavours. Mouth-filling chardonnay with warming alcohol. Generously proportioned, with appealing complexity."
Reviews for previous vintages below…
Rated Outstanding & 95/100 Cameron Douglas MS, July 2022 (2020 Vintage)
"A full-bodied, nutty, rich and powerful wine with a core of roasted stone fruit and toasty cashew-nut oak flavours, fine textured tannins and a brazil-nut butter texture. Baked peaches and lemon, nectarine skin and grapefruit. There’s vanilla and nut, warming alcohol and medium+ acidity. A wine that ticks all the boxes of weight and intensity, richness and power, flavour and deliciousness. A lovely drinking wine from day of purchase through 2026+."
5 Stars Michael Cooper (2019 Vintage)
"Made from 'our finest barrels of Chardonnay', this tightly structured wine is estate-grown at the remote, eastern end of Waiheke Island. Hand-harvested and fermented with indigenous yeasts in French oak puncheons (36 per cent new), the 2019 vintage is a pale yellow, powerful, weighty wine with rich, ripe stone-fruit and nutty oak flavours, balanced acidity and a long, dry finish. Still very youthful, with a commanding presence, it's well worth cellaring to 2023+."