Lovely burgundany style, could be mistaken for a Mersault. Slight lemony undercurrent. Rich fruit but still taut and not flabby. Would wxpect to get better
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Excellent New World Chardonnay more burgundy than NZ. Nose is apple, toasted oak, and citrus. Palate confirms the nose with a long almost sweet finish. I love Kumeu River wines haven’t had one I didn’t enjoy. 93 points. Excellent New World Chardonnay more burgundy than NZ. Nose is apple, toasted oak, and citrus. Palate confirms the nose with a long almost sweet finish. I love Kumeu River wines haven’t had one I didn’t enjoy. 93 points.
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Classy nose of creamy peaches with floral aromatics and buttered toast. The fruit feels progressed from my last bottle, now showing more honeyed. The tension and focus on the palate is wonderful, with elegant balance and perfect density through to a huge, silky smooth, vibrating finish. The finish lingers, leaving gum-coating layers on the palate as you progress through the bottle. Superb. 95+
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Tasted blind. Again I fell for it, thought it was a Puligny this time. Super mineral, crushed fossils, delineated and structured. Truly a wonderful wine.
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PnP'ed. Another great Chard in its own right - very, very different from the '19 Boillot CC that I had on Tue. Notes of apples, lemons, and cream rose slowly from the glass in bits. Nice concentration & weight with good minerality on the palate, but coiled with tension making it exude a sense of calmness with almost a zen feel. Paired well with the fried egg-yolk fish-skin & lobster, this will no doubt improve with more bottle age!
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Pnp then followed over an hour or so. High expectations after suckles 100pt rating. Very good wine but didn’t quite live up to the hype for me. Very complex and aromatic nose of burnt toast, pear, underripe kiwi, lemon meringue, flint. The palate is lean and balanced with similar aromatics, medium minus body, medium acid. I found the finish and power a bit lacking, but the balance and complexity here makes this a great drinking wine. Unlike suckling, I don’t think this holds a candle to Montrachet, but does have some similar aromatics. Found this for $37 so an obvious buy, but not quite on the level of a special occasion wine for me.
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Tasted blind. Very Meursault like, still some pronounced oak but super concentrated fruit and layers of complexity that make this quite delicious. Ripe but not heavy with nice acidity to balance it. Not buttery. Would love to taste this again on 2-3 years.
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Elegant nose of cooking apple, pear, cream, nutmeg and buttered biscuit, with time in the glass unfurling layers of white blossom and floral notes. Perfectly judged oak, with hints of toast and subtle struck match. Rather than blowing your socks off out of the gate, this slowly but surely captivates (over the course of an hour +) with an elegant mix of velvety tension, restrained but steely power, floral nuances and high-definition fruit. It brings to mind Puligny-Montrachet, whilst offering something different. The finish goes on and on, with a lingering saline note. Superb.
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13% Alc., screw cap. Shameful closure for a wine of about 60 Euros.
Nose: First lots of saltines, later slightly woody and closed.
Palate: Medium body, clean, fresh and cool, at the beginning lots of minerality and saltiness; later, vanilla, dominant barrique and wood, nutmeg, on the dark side. Missing brightness and animating flow, disappointing.
May be in an unfavorable phase and with time this quite dominant wood flavors will disappear. But I prefer fruit and/or minerality and not this kind of use of wood.
Suckling's wine of the year ;-)
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Lovely aromas of ripe apples and flowers. Opened up after 15 minutes to reveal a beautiful, nicely balanced Chardonnay with a hint of butter but no evidence of oak. The finish was lovely with a good long finish and good mid and late palate richness.
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Très riche, texturé, fait très beaunois mais le caractère néo-zélandais ressort avec une pointe d'acidité type pomme granny smith. Très bel équilibre et encore une jeunesse contenue.
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First time for me with his producer. This is serious stuff, with a lot of oak and quite some complexity / different layers. It really evolved in the glass. Will wait for my next ones. Awesome QPR.
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This is the Best vintage and best wine among all Kumeu River whites released undoubtedly. 2020 Mate's is a totally different wine, stood out by far among its siblings. Grand Cru Burg nose. Loads of gunflint, just ripe complex fruits, perfect use of oak, some savoury characters adding dimensions. Extremely fine and airy mouthfeel, so much tension. Going on and on. Sadly it is hard to acquire this lovely wine.
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Best of New Zealand Celebration for Rob and Gordon (Wanaka Wedge House, Queensberry, Central Otago, New Zealand): Gorgeous chardonnay of unequalled elegance and refinement from this estate. Still a baby, but approachable, with classic KR minerality, tight oaty complexity, supple texture, and vibrant acids, which provide pin point balance. Drunk in a lineup of Grand Cru Burgundies, one would be very hard pressed to pick this out as an imposter. This is world-class wine., with a finish that will not quit. 95++ Will improve.
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Early dinner gathering (Blacksalt, Washington DC): Served blind. Beautiful nose displaying succulent white fruit with a hint of yellow, lemon, lemon curd, pear, star fruit, coconut bark, honey, white pepper, spicy spices and mineral. Excellent concentration, layers upon layers of rich yet pure white fruit, generous and oily but also pure, cool and energetic, strong acidity and mineral, and a long concentrated white fruit driven finish with mineral at the end. Most guesses as top 1er crus Burgundy, possibly from PYCM. Although very Burgundian, it seems slightly sweeter and more succulent. Excellent showing.
A burgundy style Chardonnay, very impressed on the first day. Pale lemon, orange, lemon, lemon zest, candy, clean on the palate, medium finish. Still good on the second day, even better. High value
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As others state, still tight, evidence of reduction even with 4 hrs in decanter. Beautifully structured complex and pleasant herbal notes. Loooong. Wait 5+ years.
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Nose: floral, citrus, lemony Palate: balance, a bit sweet, candy Very balance wine, and great to drink but will be better in a few years. Still tight. Best NZ chardonnay I have tasted
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Belle robe brillante jaune citron moyennement pâle.
Magnifique nez encore en retenue mais dont on perçoit tout le potentiel futur : citron, herbacée, thé vert, glace vanille, crème anglaise, poudre à canon léger.
La bouche est extraordinaire, supportée par une tension et énergie énorme et une longueur que je n'ai de mémoire que rarement rencontré: citron, noisette fraîche, herbe.
Un vin jeune mais déjà au sommet de ce que peut produire le Chardonnay (capsule).
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The 2020 Mate's Vineyard lifts up with a bouquet that's more of a whisper than a shout, yet what it says keeps you coming back for more. Each time you return to the glass a layer is peeled back. At first it's yellow apple, then chestnut, soon almonds, followed by hints of smoke, iodine, lemon oils... need I go on? The combination of a balanced inner sweetness, opulent, silky textures, notes of whole cream, lime and lemon curds, white inner florals and dazzling acidity is enough to soothe the most savage of palates. Persistence? It has that two, as hints of curry leaves, crushed rocks, pear and a touch of vanilla linger impossibly long.
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Brilliant young chardonnay, up there with the Leeuwin 2018 as the best of this variety outside Burgundy (and bettering an awful lot of white wines inside Burgundy!!) Aromatically shy, tight on the palate, but it is all there and just needs 5-10 years to really strut it's stuff. Highly, highly recommended.
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Delicious, young, and it's youth is not helping it at the moment. I got citrus to the point of grapefruit/gooseberry which started to pull me into Sancerre territory, Kafir lime, lemon, hay, cold cream... Chalky finish, loads of aspirin. Seems light on it's feet, tightly wound, I like that. I dunno if that grapefruit-gooseberry thing'll go away, I hope so, cos at this could get in with some 1'er Chablis.
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Green gold with a smokey Chardonnay nose of white peach, ripe pear, hazelnuts and bacon. Slightly exotic, the palate is viscous; creamy not oily but held in check by balancing citrus acidity. Rich in mouthfeel, don’t be fooled it remains tightly coiled and brimming with tension beneath the puppy fat. Long finish, a very great vintage of this wine. Buy. Later, it has that lemon oil character of a good GC WB. Maybe not a NZ Batard but certainly a very good NZ version of M Charmes, without the poor closure, uneven winemaking and $200 plus price tag?
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I've tasted this on several occasions, in different glasses with different periods of aeration. It is just an ordinary New Zealand Chardonnary with plenty of lemon, lemon zest and grapefruit notes, with some oak, minerality and stone fruit notes in the background.
It's not as good as what the critics say. Certainly not as compelling as 2019.
Showing real poise today. White fruits and pineapple, plenty of spice, full and broad, but still not really expressing (like it will). Silky feel on the palate, nice richness and super lift. Attractive woody notes, a phenolic grip, overlaid with juicy fruit and tangy acidity. Compact. Clearly going to need time, but it's all here!
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13% vol Sense of breadth and depth here, quite enveloping. Also shows delicacy and poise… I think it is a little reticent, as often the case at this stage, and has that clean-cut 2020 character. White fruits, and a seamless ease about it, subtly fragrant as per most of the range.
Big wine on the palate, silky and concentrated, especially soft and (almost) creamy, with some sweet mealy flavours. Not super expressive but feels full of potential, and brilliantly balanced.
This will clearly improve, just not quite as exciting as Coddington, and HH steals the show in 2020.
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4/27/2024 - Ben Christiansen wrote:
Also quite wonderful. Toght now.
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4/14/2024 - sean20waldo Likes this wine: 94 Points
Lovely burgundany style, could be mistaken for a Mersault. Slight lemony undercurrent. Rich fruit but still taut and not flabby. Would wxpect to get better
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2/23/2024 - sfqwino Likes this wine: 92 Points
Needed lots of air.
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2/21/2024 - jocelyng Likes this wine: 93 Points
Much better than the 2020 hunting hill.
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11/2/2023 - Bbrown82 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Excellent New World Chardonnay more burgundy than NZ. Nose is apple, toasted oak, and citrus. Palate confirms the nose with a long almost sweet finish. I love Kumeu River wines haven’t had one I didn’t enjoy. 93 points. Excellent New World Chardonnay more burgundy than NZ. Nose is apple, toasted oak, and citrus. Palate confirms the nose with a long almost sweet finish. I love Kumeu River wines haven’t had one I didn’t enjoy. 93 points.
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9/15/2023 - Sun_Ship Likes this wine: 95 Points
Classy nose of creamy peaches with floral aromatics and buttered toast. The fruit feels progressed from my last bottle, now showing more honeyed. The tension and focus on the palate is wonderful, with elegant balance and perfect density through to a huge, silky smooth, vibrating finish. The finish lingers, leaving gum-coating layers on the palate as you progress through the bottle. Superb. 95+
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9/5/2023 - Rani Likes this wine: 92 Points
Tasted blind. Again I fell for it, thought it was a Puligny this time. Super mineral, crushed fossils, delineated and structured. Truly a wonderful wine.
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8/31/2023 - etyc Likes this wine:
PnP'ed. Another great Chard in its own right - very, very different from the '19 Boillot CC that I had on Tue. Notes of apples, lemons, and cream rose slowly from the glass in bits. Nice concentration & weight with good minerality on the palate, but coiled with tension making it exude a sense of calmness with almost a zen feel. Paired well with the fried egg-yolk fish-skin & lobster, this will no doubt improve with more bottle age!
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2/19/2023 - gjs620 wrote:
Very good for price. Bit of vanilla
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2/17/2023 - astroman Likes this wine: 92 Points
Pinot Noir and Chardonnay not from Burgundy; 2/17/2023-2/18/2023: Blind. Notes of lemon curd, flinty. Palate was savory, creamy a little hollow on the finish with racy acid.
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2/11/2023 - Acove Likes this wine: 91 Points
Pnp then followed over an hour or so. High expectations after suckles 100pt rating. Very good wine but didn’t quite live up to the hype for me. Very complex and aromatic nose of burnt toast, pear, underripe kiwi, lemon meringue, flint. The palate is lean and balanced with similar aromatics, medium minus body, medium acid. I found the finish and power a bit lacking, but the balance and complexity here makes this a great drinking wine. Unlike suckling, I don’t think this holds a candle to Montrachet, but does have some similar aromatics. Found this for $37 so an obvious buy, but not quite on the level of a special occasion wine for me.
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1/18/2023 - Rani Likes this wine: 92 Points
Tasted blind. Very Meursault like, still some pronounced oak but super concentrated fruit and layers of complexity that make this quite delicious. Ripe but not heavy with nice acidity to balance it. Not buttery. Would love to taste this again on 2-3 years.
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1/10/2023 - jocelyng Likes this wine: 93 Points
A superb modern chardonnay with perfect balance between ripe fruits and oaky flavors. 93-94
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12/8/2022 - rmalloy wrote:
Very good. Too young to review
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12/8/2022 - Sun_Ship Likes this wine: 96 Points
Elegant nose of cooking apple, pear, cream, nutmeg and buttered biscuit, with time in the glass unfurling layers of white blossom and floral notes. Perfectly judged oak, with hints of toast and subtle struck match. Rather than blowing your socks off out of the gate, this slowly but surely captivates (over the course of an hour +) with an elegant mix of velvety tension, restrained but steely power, floral nuances and high-definition fruit. It brings to mind Puligny-Montrachet, whilst offering something different. The finish goes on and on, with a lingering saline note. Superb.
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11/20/2022 - Invest wrote: 89 Points
13% Alc., screw cap. Shameful closure for a wine of about 60 Euros.
Nose: First lots of saltines, later slightly woody and closed.
Palate: Medium body, clean, fresh and cool, at the beginning lots of minerality and saltiness; later, vanilla, dominant barrique and wood, nutmeg, on the dark side. Missing brightness and animating flow, disappointing.
May be in an unfavorable phase and with time this quite dominant wood flavors will disappear. But I prefer fruit and/or minerality and not this kind of use of wood.
Suckling's wine of the year ;-)
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9/10/2022 - DH90 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Lovely aromas of ripe apples and flowers. Opened up after 15 minutes to reveal a beautiful, nicely balanced Chardonnay with a hint of butter but no evidence of oak. The finish was lovely with a good long finish and good mid and late palate richness.
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9/10/2022 - ludwigbpm wrote: 93 Points
Très riche, texturé, fait très beaunois mais le caractère néo-zélandais ressort avec une pointe d'acidité type pomme granny smith. Très bel équilibre et encore une jeunesse contenue.
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8/7/2022 - Pinard222 wrote: 85 Points
Thin & left a metallic after taste in your mouth.
Wouldn't buy it again. Will leave the remaining bottles a few more years & maybe will improve.
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7/18/2022 - EvoPeteMTL Likes this wine: 93 Points
First time for me with his producer. This is serious stuff, with a lot of oak and quite some complexity / different layers. It really evolved in the glass. Will wait for my next ones. Awesome QPR.
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6/18/2022 - Magicviking Likes this wine: 95 Points
Really a fantastic white wine, lots of powerfull taste and longlasting
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6/5/2022 - ta75 Likes this wine: 93 Points
no formal notes, needs some time. intensely mineral-driven and great. poached pears and sea rock/dust.
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5/31/2022 - wineappellation Likes this wine: 98 Points
This is the Best vintage and best wine among all Kumeu River whites released undoubtedly. 2020 Mate's is a totally different wine, stood out by far among its siblings. Grand Cru Burg nose. Loads of gunflint, just ripe complex fruits, perfect use of oak, some savoury characters adding dimensions. Extremely fine and airy mouthfeel, so much tension. Going on and on. Sadly it is hard to acquire this lovely wine.
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5/31/2022 - Marc wrote: 95 Points
Best of New Zealand Celebration for Rob and Gordon (Wanaka Wedge House, Queensberry, Central Otago, New Zealand): Gorgeous chardonnay of unequalled elegance and refinement from this estate. Still a baby, but approachable, with classic KR minerality, tight oaty complexity, supple texture, and vibrant acids, which provide pin point balance. Drunk in a lineup of Grand Cru Burgundies, one would be very hard pressed to pick this out as an imposter. This is world-class wine., with a finish that will not quit. 95++ Will improve.
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4/20/2022 - dcwino wrote: 95 Points
Early dinner gathering (Blacksalt, Washington DC): Served blind. Beautiful nose displaying succulent white fruit with a hint of yellow, lemon, lemon curd, pear, star fruit, coconut bark, honey, white pepper, spicy spices and mineral. Excellent concentration, layers upon layers of rich yet pure white fruit, generous and oily but also pure, cool and energetic, strong acidity and mineral, and a long concentrated white fruit driven finish with mineral at the end. Most guesses as top 1er crus Burgundy, possibly from PYCM. Although very Burgundian, it seems slightly sweeter and more succulent. Excellent showing.
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2/24/2022 - MarshallLi Likes this wine: 93 Points
A burgundy style Chardonnay, very impressed on the first day. Pale lemon, orange, lemon, lemon zest, candy, clean on the palate, medium finish. Still good on the second day, even better. High value
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2/15/2022 - windtalker Likes this wine: 94 Points
No notes, a Valentine's dinner.
As others state, still tight, evidence of reduction even with 4 hrs in decanter. Beautifully structured complex and pleasant herbal notes. Loooong. Wait 5+ years.
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1/3/2022 - PC99 wrote: 95 Points
Nose: floral, citrus, lemony
Palate: balance, a bit sweet, candy
Very balance wine, and great to drink but will be better in a few years. Still tight. Best NZ chardonnay I have tasted
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12/23/2021 - François1986 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Belle robe brillante jaune citron moyennement pâle.
Magnifique nez encore en retenue mais dont on perçoit tout le potentiel futur : citron, herbacée, thé vert, glace vanille, crème anglaise, poudre à canon léger.
La bouche est extraordinaire, supportée par une tension et énergie énorme et une longueur que je n'ai de mémoire que rarement rencontré: citron, noisette fraîche, herbe.
Un vin jeune mais déjà au sommet de ce que peut produire le Chardonnay (capsule).
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11/17/2021 - Eric Guido Likes this wine:
The 2020 Mate's Vineyard lifts up with a bouquet that's more of a whisper than a shout, yet what it says keeps you coming back for more. Each time you return to the glass a layer is peeled back. At first it's yellow apple, then chestnut, soon almonds, followed by hints of smoke, iodine, lemon oils... need I go on? The combination of a balanced inner sweetness, opulent, silky textures, notes of whole cream, lime and lemon curds, white inner florals and dazzling acidity is enough to soothe the most savage of palates. Persistence? It has that two, as hints of curry leaves, crushed rocks, pear and a touch of vanilla linger impossibly long.
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10/29/2021 - felixp Likes this wine: 97 Points
Brilliant young chardonnay, up there with the Leeuwin 2018 as the best of this variety outside Burgundy (and bettering an awful lot of white wines inside Burgundy!!)
Aromatically shy, tight on the palate, but it is all there and just needs 5-10 years to really strut it's stuff.
Highly, highly recommended.
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10/15/2021 - HandmadeHomemade wrote:
Delicious, young, and it's youth is not helping it at the moment. I got citrus to the point of grapefruit/gooseberry which started to pull me into Sancerre territory, Kafir lime, lemon, hay, cold cream... Chalky finish, loads of aspirin. Seems light on it's feet, tightly wound, I like that. I dunno if that grapefruit-gooseberry thing'll go away, I hope so, cos at this could get in with some 1'er Chablis.
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10/13/2021 - Geoff7777 wrote:
Green gold with a smokey Chardonnay nose of white peach, ripe pear, hazelnuts and bacon. Slightly exotic, the palate is viscous; creamy not oily but held in check by balancing citrus acidity. Rich in mouthfeel, don’t be fooled it remains tightly coiled and brimming with tension beneath the puppy fat. Long finish, a very great vintage of this wine. Buy. Later, it has that lemon oil character of a good GC WB. Maybe not a NZ Batard but certainly a very good NZ version of M Charmes, without the poor closure, uneven winemaking and $200 plus price tag?
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9/26/2021 - vinhslee Does not like this wine: 90 Points
I've tasted this on several occasions, in different glasses with different periods of aeration. It is just an ordinary New Zealand Chardonnary with plenty of lemon, lemon zest and grapefruit notes, with some oak, minerality and stone fruit notes in the background.
It's not as good as what the critics say. Certainly not as compelling as 2019.
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7/19/2021 - Shrewsram Likes this wine: 93 Points
Showing real poise today. White fruits and pineapple, plenty of spice, full and broad, but still not really expressing (like it will).
Silky feel on the palate, nice richness and super lift. Attractive woody notes, a phenolic grip, overlaid with juicy fruit and tangy acidity. Compact.
Clearly going to need time, but it's all here!
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7/15/2021 - Shrewsram Likes this wine: 92 Points
13% vol
Sense of breadth and depth here, quite enveloping. Also shows delicacy and poise… I think it is a little reticent, as often the case at this stage, and has that clean-cut 2020 character. White fruits, and a seamless ease about it, subtly fragrant as per most of the range.
Big wine on the palate, silky and concentrated, especially soft and (almost) creamy, with some sweet mealy flavours. Not super expressive but feels full of potential, and brilliantly balanced.
This will clearly improve, just not quite as exciting as Coddington, and HH steals the show in 2020.
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