Te Mata Elston Chardonnay 2022

Reviews

Huon Hooke (The Real Review): 97/100. Light-mid yellow colour; subtle nutty/nougat and wheat-meal complexities, the palate tremendously intense, bright, tensioned and focused, with terrific balance and persistence. The subtle complexities really creep up on you. Great concentration and crystalline focus. It is superb now and will richly reward cellaring. Drink 2024-2037.

Sam Kim, Wine Orbit: 96/100. A wonderfully styled chardonnay offering elegant opulence with graceful complexity. The inviting bouquet shows ripe peach, rockmelon, lemon pith, cedar and brioche nuances, followed by a richly textured palate that’s succulent and focused. Brilliantly structured by fine acidity, finishing expansive and impressively long. At its best: 2025 to 2037.

James Suckling (JamesSuckling.com): 95/100. This is really energetic with an excellent fruit and acid balance that gives the wine a tangy finish that lasts for minutes. Medium to full body. Lovely depth with sliced ripe green apple flavors and hints of hot stone. Hints of bread dough and steel gives this complexity. Flavorful finish. Drinkable but better in 2026.

Michael Cooper: Super Classic (= outstanding quality for at least the last 5 vintages). One of New Zealand's most illustrious Chardonnays, Elston is a stylish, intense, slowly evolving Hawke's Bay wine. At around four years old, it is notably complete, showing concentration and finesse.

Tasting Note:

Glowing a brilliant lemon-gold in the glass, Elston Chardonay 2022 overflows with ripe citrus, fresh brioche, and grilled hazelnuts. On the palate an impressive intensity of ripe nectarine and grilled lemon builds upon soft creamy nougat notes, adding a vibrant acidity, balance and focus. With exceptional length, freshness, purity, and a complex interplay of fruit and savoury notes, Elston Chardonay 2022 is expressive and moreish – a remarkable embodiment of its terroir that exemplifies the quintessential qualities of this classic Hawke’s Bay chardonnay.

Aromas and flavours:

Additional information

Type: White wine from New Zealand

Varietal: 100% Chardonnay

Vineyard: Hawke's Bay, New Zealand. The superb quality of the 2022 vintage was immediately apparent in the fully ripe grapes that were hand-harvested from their separate, individual plots within Te Mata Estate’s vineyards between 20 February and 10 March 2022.

Winemaking: Each parcel was gently whole-cluster pressed, cold settled and racked to new and seasoned French oak barrels for fermentation. The resulting wines remained in contact with their yeast lees, with a number going through malolactic fermentation. The finest lots were selected for further maturation, spending a total of 11 months in barrel.

The name: Elston is named for Elston Hall in Nottinghamshire, the ancestral home of Charles Darwin’s family. Darwin’s ‘theory of natural selection’ forms the basis of modern evolutionary theory, the foundation of biology. The wyvern symbol of Elston Hall appears on the label.

Alcohol: 13.5% vol

Wine style: dry

Bottle size: 0.75l

Notice: Contains sulfites, milk.

Cellaring potential: 2030+

Closure: Screwcap

Produced and bottled by: Te Mata Estate, PO Box 8335, Havelock North, Hawkes Bay 4157, New Zealand

Distributor: vinabonus GmbH, Simmedenweg 40, 34134 Kassel.

To all Chardonnay wines