2023 Greywacke Chardonnay 750ml

Overview

A concentrated, finely detailed Marlborough Chardonnay combining lively citrus and stone fruit with flinty minerality, savoury complexity and beautifully integrated oak. Hand-picked fruit, indigenous barrel fermentation and extended maturation on lees build texture and depth, while bright acidity gives the wine precision and length.

Vintage

Following the challenging 2022 season, Marlborough's 2023 vintage brought a more settled growing period. Early summer was warm before intermittent wet spells, with rainfall drying up by late February. A settled autumn delivered an extended ripening season and pristine picking conditions. Chardonnay was harvested in immaculate condition over 11 days from 20 March.

Vineyard

The Chardonnay is primarily based on low-yielding Mendoza clone, valued for its concentration of flavour and crisp acidity, with clone 95 also included. Fruit was sourced from the central Wairau Plains near Renwick and the Omaka Valley. The Wairau vineyards are planted on young alluvial soils with high proportions of greywacke river stones, while the Omaka Valley sites include gravelly clay-loam soils.

Winemaking

The vineyards were hand-picked separately at high ripeness levels and whole-bunch pressed using very low maceration press cycles. Some of the fruit was pressed directly to barrel, while the balance was lightly settled before being racked to barrel.

The juice underwent natural indigenous yeast fermentation in French oak barriques, with 20% new oak. Fermentation continued for many months, with occasional lees stirring and complete malolactic fermentation. The wine was transferred out of oak after 11 months and bottled in October 2024.

Producer Tasting Notes

“A medley of lively citrus fragrances, layered with notes of crème anglaise and praline, infused with a flinty minerality. The palate is richly textured and thoughts of lemon curd on hot buttered brioche are hard to ignore – there's also a flourish of tarragon with stone fruit flavours, tempered by toasty oak and zesty acidity. A concentrated wine – charming in its youth with many savoury layers that will gradually unfold with cellaring.” — Greywacke

Critic Reviews

98 Points — Sue Barrie MW & Peter Richards MW, Susie & Peter
“…it’s the seamless integration, beautiful texture and sheer effortless class of this wine that won it our Top White award. It’s an epic wine that speaks volumes about where modern New Zealand Chardonnay is…”

95 Points — Anne Krebiehl MW, Decanter
“All is here, with such fill, such brightness. This is both super-smooth and utterly lip-smacking. Exquisite tension for now is bedded softly in creamy oak.”

95 Points — Shanteh Wale, Halliday Wine Companion
“Toasted coconut, baked peaches and lemon curd. A wine of dazzling flinty aromatics, bee pollen, halva and candied almonds. There is a persistence of driving acidity, uplifted moments of yuzu and buttered bread. Oak spices show in cinnamon and nutmeg but have settled into the body of the wine. A powerful chardonnay, with every aspect singing in harmony. Flavours echo for long moments. A wine you’ll remember and wish you bought more of.”
Tasted 20 March 2026

95 Points — Cameron Douglas MS
“A delicious wine with a frame of spice and fruit purity, lemon and apple with a white stone fruit quality. The highlight for me is the wild flowers and heirloom fruit suggestions framed by a lees and wood flavours. Almost full-bodied with a lactic leesy quality, plenty of complexity and lots of intrigue. Delicious, fresh and perfect on its own or with food. Best drinking from day of purchase through 2031+.”
Tasted September 2025

93 Points — Stephen Wong MW, The Real Review
“Marked by funky reduction which gives crushed rock and struck match, this complex wine unfurls with time in the glass. The palate has a green apple and lemon profile which expands to fill the mouth with creamy almond and cashew butter; all wrapped around waxy citrus peel while remaining crisp and zingy right to the grainy finish. A wine of layers and evolution which has a bit of everything in a mid-weight package. Not a powerhouse but it will be very versatile with food.”
Tasted 14 October 2025

Producer

Greywacke is a Marlborough producer owned by winemaker and photographer Kevin Judd, who rose to prominence during his previous career as winemaker at Cloudy Bay. Named after the greywacke stones prevalent in the region’s vineyards, Greywacke sources fruit from selected sites across Marlborough, with an important connection to vineyards owned by the Sutherland family. The wines are made at Dog Point Winery in the lower Brancott Valley.

Specifications

• Vintage: 2023
• Producer: Greywacke
• Grape Variety: Chardonnay
• Region: Marlborough, New Zealand
• Vineyard Areas: Central Wairau Plains and Omaka Valley
• Clones: Predominantly Mendoza with clone 95
• Harvest: Hand-picked
• Pressing: Whole-bunch pressed
• Fermentation: Natural indigenous yeast fermentation in French oak barriques
• Malolactic Fermentation: Complete
• Maturation: 11 months in French oak with occasional lees stirring
• New Oak: 20%
• Alcohol: 14.1%
• pH: 3.2
• Acidity: 6.2 g/L
• Bottled: October 2024
• Drinking Window: 2025–2032+