MOUNT BROWN ESTATES GRAND RESERVE CHARDONNAY 2023

Only produced in outstanding vintages, Mount Brown Estates Grand Reserve is a Chardonnay of impressive power and class. This Chardonnay packs a flavour punch – ripe grapefruit peel, savoury smoky flavours on a mouth-filling palate. We are fortunate indeed to be able enjoy a locally produced Chardonnay of this quality at what can only be described as a 'bargain price'. A world class Chardonnay full of personality.

Winery notes (2023 Vintage)
"Ripe stonefruit, with vanilla oak aromas.  Full bodied, dry with peach flavours and a delicious hint of citrus. Our Chardonnay clones were selected to produce high quality Chardonnay.  Low yields, gravel soils and a dry summer brought out the very best of these clones.

Only 160 dozen bottles were made of this outstanding Chardonnay. Gently pressed directly to barrel where it underwent a cool ferment followed by full malolactic fermentation.  After that it was allowed to age in barrel for about 15 months (100% French oak barriques)."

Rated Outstanding & 95/100 Cameron Douglas MS, December 2024 (2023 Vintage)
"A generous and enticing bouquet of ripe stone fruits and baking spices of barrel, French vanilla and nutmeg with baked peach and pineapple, then a grapefruit and clay quality. Full-bodied, textured and delicious on the palate. Dry with a backbone of acidity capturing flavours of baked peach and citrus, smoky barrel spices and kitchen spice-cupboard ideas. Well made, delicious and ready to drink from day of purchase through 2029+. Fabulous value."

5 Stars & 95/100 Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, September 2025 (2023 Vintage)
"Complex and gorgeously expressed, the bouquet shows ripe apricot, grapefruit, vanilla, roasted hazelnut, and subtle flinty notes. It's wonderfully weighted on the palate, offering excellent depth and a richly textured mouthfeel, which leads to a persistent and satisfying finish. At its best: now to 2030."

92/100 Stephen Wong MW, The Real Review, November 2025 (2023 Vintage)
"Remarkable value from Waipara, this traditionally-made chardonnay was gently pressed to barrel where it fermented and aged for 15 months with full malolactic conversion. The combination of low yields, the region’s cool climate and gravel/clay/limestone soils has resulted in an especially refined and complex wine which punches well above its weight for enjoying over the next few years.

A restrained nose with cool notes of acacia and linden flowers joining green apple and citrus peel under a cloak of smoky, toasted complexity. The palate is light to mid-weight, displaying salted yuzu and grapefruit flavours wrapped tightly around the long acid core. As the phenolics settle on the finish, it resolves to oyster shell and chalkiness, resulting in a finely balanced wine of restrained minerality. Stylish stuff which will develop more layers of subtlety in the near-term."