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Buy OnlineWinery notes (2024 Vintage)
“The 2024 season was a contrast to 2023, coming with a sting – or in this case, a grand finale – at the end. It was a splendid season, and the general feeling is that 2024 will be remembered alongside 2013, 2001 and 1998 as an outstanding year.
We are so impressed with this wine. It was a remarkable vintage for ripening and acid retention; to be honest, from the moment we picked it, we had a good feeling about the potential of this Chardonnay. It was never going to disappoint. Fruit dominance is seen in kumquat, cut meadow flowers, buttercups and chalk. None, perhaps, is typical for Chardonnay, but so characteristic of ours. The wine moves steeply and swiftly over the palate like a river, with amazing textures and shapes. The acid is a solid levee, guiding the wine and giving it direction. However, its full-bodied nature wants to spill over the sides, filling the mouth from front to back and forward again like a wave, full of energy.
Hand-harvested fruit was pressed the following day, chilled. After a light settling, the juice was racked into foudres (1000 litres wooden casks) for a spontaneous ferment. Spring malolactic fermentation started naturally in October/November and finished in early 2025. The wine remained in these foudres, on lees, for 18 months. It was then transferred to tank and bottled without fining or filtration in December 2025.”
Rated Outstanding & 95/100 Cameron Douglas MS, February 2026 (2024 Vintage)
“Very elegant with a softness and complexity, fine lees and stone fruits are also elegant, a wine of texture and mouthfeel, very expressive and complex with a pure and natural voice. The flavours of stone fruit and citrus then fold in. Mineral and citrus pith and peel layer. I love the overall voice of this wine, it is not trying to be anything other than where it comes from and how Wilco allows the voice of this wine to show. Lengthy, taut and complex.”
Reviews for the 2023 vintage below…
95/100 & Top 100 New Zealand Wines of 2025, JamesSuckling.com (2023 Vintage)
“An elegant chardonnay with a subtle nose of lemons, jasmine and a touch of hazelnuts. The palate is well constructed, with refined acidity and delicate fruit that’s neatly distributed throughout. ”
94/100 Stephen Wong MW, The Real Review, September 2025 (2023 Vintage)
“More Dry River alumni, the Oraterra team were led by Wilco Lam to their new home at McReanor vineyard—previously known as On Giant’s Shoulders and before that, the Pahi vineyard—in time to work the 2023 vintage. A trial by fire (or rain), the vintage would unfold as one of the most challenging recent vintages, and it takes a confident and brave team to launch a new wine name under those circumstances. The wine is fantastic, even given the challenges of the year. If they can pull this off in a difficult vintage, we are excited to see what happens when nature is kind.
Delicate aromas of white peach, pear blossom and French nougat waft from the glass in pretty layers of sweet charm. The palate walks a fine line between nutty richness, floral elegance and oyster shell minerality, finishing with gently refreshing acidity and a persistent chalky grip. Expressive without being showy, it has both approachability and depth as well as a hint of something loosely tenuous on the finish. Perhaps not one for old bones but it will certainly reward mid-term cellaring with unfurling layers of complexity across its elegantly balanced frame. A wine of personality and with a voice which transcends varietal expression.
96/100 David Walker Bell, WineFolio.co.nz, January 2025 (2023 Vintage)
“The first Chardonnay from this new label, with the fruit coming from the McCreanor Vineyard in Martinborough. A beautiful presentation – with an artistic label showcasing ‘In The Presence’ 2023, by Leanne Williams of the Crystal Chain Gang, and a distinctively shaped bottle. A light straw yellow colour in the glass. Varietally pure aromas of peach, almond, tarragon, lemon curd, oat biscuit, apple and orange blossom. Dry, youthful and packed with energy on the palate – which also has an immediate sense of silky texture. A direct, salivating acidity whisks you in a line through the middle, with toasty oak and savoury elements popping up alongside. Weight and plushness are definitely a factor, but the overall character is one of finesse and completeness. A finish of singular length and persistence.”
94/100 Gary Walsh, The Wine Front, July 2025 (2023 Vintage)
“A nutty almond richness here, light spicy cinnamon oak, mint, peach and melon. It’s juicy yet saline, some grapefruit freshness in with some richer peach and pear, a flinty grip to texture, hazelnut and almond, a cool feel with a stony touch, a little creamy but also quite zippy and tight, with preserved lemon closing out a finish of good length. Stylish and good to drink. It’s quite cool and rain-washed, yet still delivers plenty of Chardonnay flavour. A delicate touch in the winery delivers a very pleasing wine.”
