As with all things Rapaura Springs does, the quality to price ratio here is off the charts.
Finding quality Chardonnay at this price point is becoming almost impossible but with a palate filled with creamy nougat, peach and vanillin oak, the Rapaura Springs Reserve Chardonnay certainly offers plenty at this price. Uncomplicated yet crammed with flavour and deliciously moreish.
Winery notes (2024 Vintage)
"Rich and flavourful Chardonnay with honeysuckle, white peach, nectarine and fresh citrus, all complemented by toasty vanilla and subtle spiced oak characters.
The 2024 vintage was one of the best we've seen. The summer was consistently hot, dry, and windy – delivering a smaller vintage with exceptionally clean fruit and lots of flavour. The perfect conditions meant picking at full ripeness, and the cooler evenings ensured acidity was retained.
The Chardonnay fruit was pressed, racked clear, and the juice fermented with 25% new oak. A partial secondary malolactic fermentation has softened the wine and added extra texture and complexity to the palate."
5 Stars & 93/100 Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, January 2025 (2024 Vintage)
"It’s elegantly fragrant on the nose, showing summer peach, rockmelon, Gala apple, and nougat notes, followed by a finely flowing palate offering bright fruit flavours with creamy texture and well-pitched acidity. Harmonious and soothing with complexity, making it delightfully appealing. At its best: now to 2028."
91/100 Cameron Douglas MS, September 2025 (2024 Vintage)
"A gently creamy mouthfeel with a satin touch and flavours of vanilla custard and peach, there’s a fine lees and nut quality adding complexity. Medium+ weighted on the palate accentuated by the alcohol and use of wood with mid-palate core fruit and framed by a crisp acid line and light tannins texture. Well made and ready to drink from 2025 through 2028. Persistent, fresh and ready."