2022 Dicey Bannockburn Chardonnay, Central Otago

There’s real focus to this, with sliced Meyer lemons, lemon tart and hints of flint. Medium- to full-bodied with a phenolic texture and great length. Wonderful flavors and complexity. Drink or hold. 

93 points James Suckling, March 2024

Light straw with aromas of juicy peach, poached pear and citrus fruits with underlying hints of soft spice, clotted cream, white flowers, macadamia nuts, almond meal, vanillin oak and crushed stone. The flavours swell on the palate, a little squeak of phenolic texture joins in before the wine tightens, acidity kicking in before fading slowly with memories of spiced apple pastries, crème fraîche and nougat. Drink to 2029.

93 points Dave Brookes for Halliday Wine Companion, September 2024

Fruity nose, a bit buttery. Popcorn. Soft and mouth-filling. Light finish. Direct but with plenty of flavour. Sweet apple, elderflower, a touch herbal. Mid-length finish, a little bit chewy. But there is complexity here and it is well-balanced. Just needs time. Drink to 2029.

90 points Stephen Wong for The Real Review, December 2022

More about this wine

Vintage 2022 will be remembered for being close to the perfect: a lack of frost and wind, warm and wet at the start with a protracted hot dry spell in the middle and a long cool ripening period. Overall, a very warm season, small bunch numbers with big berries.

This wine is a blend of fruit of multiple clones from Dicey’s Inlet and Black Rabbit vineyards. All parcels were foot trodden on arrival to the winery, left overnight and whole bunch pressed straight to French oak puncheons of which a fifth were new. The ferments started with indigenous yeasts and remained unstirred until after malolactic fermentation (75%) in spring, at which point they were stirred weekly. The unfined wine was lightly filtered ahead of bottling in March 2023.

About Dicey

This is family affair of brothers James and Matt Dicey, whose father Robin Dicey, originally from South Africa, moved to Central Otago in 1992 and was instrumental in establishing many of the region’s vineyards.

The brothers grow Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Riesling, Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Syrah and Gamay across three Bannockburn vineyards totalling just over twenty hectares.