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Buy OnlineSettlement, named after the stunning Amphitheatre single vineyard site in the Omaka Valley, is dedicated entirely to the production of organic, old vine single vineyard expressions of very special sites in Marlborough.
Poplars vineyard is further south in the Brancott Valley, just next to the famous Section 94 vineyard. Named after trees surrounding the site the vines were planted in 1992, Mendoza clone (now 28 years old). Alluvium soils over a clay subsoil as opposed to the river rock/silt of the Wairau valley floor. Hand-picked, racked of solids, wild ferment in barrel, then elevage for 12 months, 15% new.
Winery notes (2023 Vintage)
"Ripe stone fruit and citrus are immediately apparent in the aroma followed by savoury and faintly spiced oatmeal character. These aromas flow into a palate that shows richness and length balanced by a crisp and pleasantly crunchy acidity. Excellent now and will develop positively for several years.
Planted in 1992, the Chardonnay vines, made up of 100% Mendoza, sit on free draining alluvium over a complex clay profile. Requiring little to no irrigation except in the very driest of seasons. Poplars Vineyard receives relatively low rainfall compared to the northern side of the nearby Wairau Valley. A certified organic vineyard since 2012, the resulting fruit from this site shows great vibrancy and intensity with flinty, mineral undertones, and a creamy textured finish.
Hand-picked and whole bunch pressed to tank overnight. The juice was then racked to barrel on solids where it went through wild ferment and ageing for 12 months on lees. 15% new oak was used. 6 months ageing in stainless tank followed to introduce more freshness and liveliness to the end wine. This wine was bottled without fining."
Rated Excellent & 94/100 Cameron Douglas MS, September 2025 (2023 Vintage)
"A distinctive bouquet of roasted nut, baked peach and wood with scents of vanilla, butter-cream and spices. Full-bodied and delicious on the palate with full-creamy quality, stone fruits and grapefruit peel, mineral and smoky wood layers. Chardonnay at its most bold and proud with best drinking from 2025 through 2032."
91/100 Erin Larkin, RobertParker.com, Wine Advocate, April 2026 (2023 Vintage)
"The 2023 Poplars Vineyard Chardonnay is bright yellow in the glass and leads with a nose laden with yellow peach, a bit of flinty reduction, some curry leaf and salted preserved lemon, all characters I would associate with the Mendoza clone of Chardonnay. In the mouth, the wine is piercingly intense, showing reduction, oak, flint, funk, fruit and acid in equal measure. It leaves little room for fruit but makes for an interesting wine to drink."
