Tasting notes:
A pure, bright and youthful citrus driven chardonnay with complex smokey, flint, toast and biscuit notes derived from extended barrel aging on full solids. The hallmarks of Dog Point chardonnay are ever present here with pure saline and crisp palate structure. This vintage will have the ability to age well.
Reviews:
96 points, Shanteh Wale, WinePilot.com, December 2023 (2021 Vintage)
"Meyer lemon, white peach and glace pears. Honeysuckle blooms, oyster shells and orange creamsicles. Struck match faintly lingers with cinnamon, white paper and chalk. The palate comes alive with texture and a powerful fruit drive. Flavours linger but what is most impressive is the whiskered skin tannin that keeps the focus on the shape of the wine. Fresh ginger, lemongrass root and garam marsala spice. This is laden with detail and is drinking beautifully but has the pedigree to age in your cellar for the next 6-8 years. Serve with a buttery, garlic shellfish pasta."
95 points, Cameron Douglas MS, October 2023 (2021 Vintage)
"A very enticing bouquet of ripe stone fruits and barrel spices, some wood smoke and blond tobacco suggestions. Excellent weight and intensity on the palate with a distinctive mouthfeel and texture, there’s no mistaking the oak, lees autolysis and baking spice qualities. Flavours of peaches and nectarines, grapefruit and white smoke all combine to deliver a wine of freshness and power. Best drinking from 2023 through 2029+."
5 Stars & Rated Classic, Michael Cooper, December 2023 (2021 Vintage)
"This classy wine is estate-grown and hand-harvested on the south side of the Wairau Valley, fermented and matured for 18 months in French oak barriques (typically 10 per cent new), and given a full, softening malolactic fermentation. The 2021 vintage (5*) is still unfolding. Pale straw, it is full-bodied, savoury and complex, with strong, vibrant, peachy, slightly biscuity flavours, balanced acidity, and a dry, lingering finish. A wine with obvious potential, it's best cellared to 2025+. Certified organic."
93 points, Gary Walsh, The Wine Front, November 2023 (2021 Vintage)
"It’s a full-on barrel ferment expression of the grape. Smoky, peppery, spicy, peach and pineapple, ripe grapefruit too. It’s intense and packed with flavour, the acidity searing through buttery caramel richness, a dry chalkiness, toasty and smoky, blonde tobacco and spicy tropical fruit. Finish is dry and savoury with an underlying richness of robust fruitiness. It’s a whole lot of Chardonnay, and likely better with a couple more years under its belt. No prisoners!"
"Exciting flavours echo Chablis in this impressive Chardonnay from Marlborough, which expresses the region’s cool nights and warm days with citrus purity and ripe white peach, grapefruit zest and yuzu aromas. Dry, fullbodied, full of energy and zest. One for the cellar, or decant and enjoy now."