HAWKES BAY

114 TASTED

112 RECOMMENDED

JUDGED BY

Michael Cooper

Winestate’s New Zealand editor is author of the internationally acclaimed Wine Atlas of New Zealand and the annual New Zealand Wines: Michael Cooper’s Buyer’s Guide. In the 2004 New Year Honours, Michael was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to wine writing.

Hawke's Bay has long been renowned for its weighty, richly flavoured chardonnays and ‘Bordeaux-style’ blends of merlot, cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc. This tasting found many top-flight examples of both, but there’s a lot more to Hawke's Bay than chardonnay and claret-style reds. Syrah, soaring in profile over the past 20 years, is getting better and better as the vines mature, yielding perfumed, graceful reds, packed with plum and black pepper flavours.

New Zealand’s second-largest wine region has a wide range of subregional climates and soils, yielding a notably diverse array of wine styles. The tasting also revealed many impressive examples of oakaged sauvignon blanc, gewürztraminer, pinot gris, viognier, albarino, sweet whites, sparkling, rosé and tempranillo.

Prices shown are approximate New Zealand retail. Wines available in export markets are shown as (A) Australia, (UK) and (US).

CHARDONNAY

32 TASTED

32 RECOMMENDED

Chardonnay is Hawke's Bay’s most widely planted white-wine variety. It is often regarded as performing at its greatest on clay soils, but the top examples in this tasting flowed from a diversity of soil types and subregions, including the arid, stony, free-draining Gimblett Gravels. Many of the wines from the warm, early-ripening 2018 vintage are already delicious.

Babich Irongate Gimblett Gravels Hawke's Bay Chardonnay 2018 ★★★★★

Fragrant and finely textured, this weighty wine has deep peach and grapefruit flavours, mealy notes adding complexity and a seamless, lingering finish. Fresh, youthful and finely poised, it’s already enjoyable, but likely to be at its best 2022+. $40 (A)

Coopers Creek Swamp Reserve Hawke's Bay Chardonnay 2018 ★★★★★

This classy, harmonious wine was estate-grown in the Havelock North hills and fermented and matured for 10 months in French oak casks (30% new). Full-bodied, it has concentrated, peachy, slightly spicy flavours, gentle biscuity and smoky notes adding complexity, and a very finely balanced, lasting finish. Best drinking 2022+. $39 (A)

Elephant Hill Reserve Hawke's Bay Chardonnay 2016 ★★★★★

Well worth cellaring, this elegant, youthful wine was estate-grown at Te Awanga (80%) and in the Bridge Pa Triangle (20%), and fermented and matured for a year in French oak casks (26% new). The bouquet is highly fragrant and complex; the palate full-bodied and tightly structured, with concentrated grapefruit and peach flavours, smoky, mealy, biscuity notes adding complexity, good acid spine and a rich finish. Best 2021+. $54 (UK)

Mills Reef Elspeth Gimblett Gravels Hawke's Bay Chardonnay 2017 ★★★★★

This quietly classy wine was hand-picked and fermented and matured for 10 months in French oak casks (34% new). Refined and youthful, it is full-bodied, with deep, citrusy, peachy flavours, biscuity, savoury notes adding complexity, balanced acidity, and a tightly structured, very finely balanced finish. Best drinking 2021+. $40 (US)

Trinity Hill Gimblett Gravels Hawke's Bay Chardonnay 2017 ★★★★★

Already delicious, this fragrant, rich, complex wine was fermented and matured for a year in French oak puncheons (30% new). Still youthful, it is full-bodied, with strong, peachy, biscuity, slightly toasty and creamy flavours, balanced acidity and a long, harmonious finish. $40 (UK)

Vidal Soler Hawke's Bay Chardonnay 2018 ★★★★★

This very elegant, youthful wine was grown in the Kokako Vineyard, in the Ohiti Valley, and matured for 10 months in French oak barriques (26% new). Fragrant and full-bodied, it has strong, citrusy,