2024 Craggy Range Gimblett Gravels Chardonnay, Hawkes Bay

Another delicious wine from the CR stable with a fine balance and youthful urgency. Aromas and flavours of fresh white fleshed stone fruits and sweet citrus, pear and apple then layers of leesy vanilla and mineral complexities. Dry with a medium+ weighted mouthfeel, satin textures with contrasting acid line and core flavours of stone and citrus fruits. Balanced and well made with medium+ length and complexity. Best from day of purchase through 2030.

94 points Cam Douglas MS

This precise and focused chardonnay is classy, lively and crisp. The nose shows spiced apples, cedar and sweet spices. Medium-bodied with bright acidity. Textural finish with length. Drink or hold. Screw cap.

94 points James Suckling

From the Estate’s Gimblett Gravels vineyard at Hawke’s Bay, this is a rather muscular style of Chardonnay, with a serious future. Thoroughly enjoyable drinking. Lemon/yellow in colour, this is very much a youthful Chardonnay with notes of grapefruit, stone fruits, florals, spices, peaches and a chalky backing. This is poised and powerful, with early complexity already evident. We have good focus and seemingly boundless energy, all with impressive length. Worth putting a case or two in the cellar for up to a decade to see the wine in all its coming glory.

93 points Ken Gargett Wine Pilot

Warm, stony soils out in Gimblett Gravels give Chardonnay a very different voice, more sun, more generosity, but Craggy Range keep it in check with a steady hand and a focus on detail. This is a site they understand deeply, and it shows in how the wine holds its shape.

Ripe nectarine, white peach and a touch of baked apple come through first, followed by lemon curd and a flicker of grapefruit. Underneath, there’s a savoury layer building, toasted cashew, a hint of spice and a gentle smoky note from oak, all nicely folded in rather than sitting on top.

It feels generous without getting loose. Medium to full in weight, with a creamy, almost polished texture from time on lees, but there’s a line of acidity running right through the middle that keeps everything pulled together. The finish lingers with a mix of stone fruit, subtle oak and a clean, mineral edge.

The winemaking leans toward texture and integration, wild ferment, barrel work and time in oak, but always with enough restraint to keep the fruit front and centre.

This is a Chardonnay that enjoys a bit of confidence at the table. Lobster rolls with a squeeze of lemon, scallops with brown butter, or a roast chicken with thyme all land well. It also works nicely with corn and chilli fritters, a rich seafood pie, or even a simple plate of fish and chips, where the freshness cuts through and keeps things lively.

Drinking beautifully now, but it has enough structure to evolve over the next six to ten years, picking up more savoury complexity as it settles in.