2024 Neudorf Home Block Moutere Chardonnay, Nelson

A restrained and very young wine which currently shows cinnamon and spicy oak hiding reluctant notes of just-ripe stone-fruit, zesty citrus and crisp apple. No more than medium-bodied but very concentrated yet backward with evident, latent power tightly wound within the coils of grainy, stony phenolics and intense, saline acidity. The finish is very long, amplified by the chewy texture and stony intensity. Undeniable quality and fine-tuned finesse here with a long life ahead. Great wine which will develop slowly in bottle into a grand, elegantly complex chardonnay if cellared carefully. Drink to 2040.

97 points Stephen Wong MW for The Real Review, October 2025

This is so complex yet transparent and fresh at the same time, offering white peaches, jasmine, subtle white almonds and hints of turmeric and wet soil on the nose. The medium- to full-bodied palate is focused and long, with tense, almost spicy, ginger-like notes and a compact phenolic frame. Very long. A sophisticated wine. From organically grown grapes. Vegan. Sustainable. Drink or hold.

97 points Andrii Stetsiuk for James Suckling, October 2025

You will swoon over the yellow guava and island paradise aromas that burst from the glass. Star fruit, papaya and sugar apples. Then you’ll meet some of the classiest oak spice in the business, saw dust shavings, cinnamon icing and baked and spiced pears. Everything nods in appreciation of the other, acidity driving the wine, phenolic grip keeping pace and oat milk creaminess laying the foundation for flavour. A wine of harmony and grace. Long and memorable. A lasting echo of Tim Finn’s legacy and talent. Drink to 2035.

96 points Shanteh Wale for Halliday Wine Companion, March 2026

The latest release of one of New Zealand’s finest white wines opens with fresh citrus, early season apples, pears and white stonefruit. Notes of toasted almonds, bakery treats, warm ginger and turmeric like spice start to emerge as the wine sits in the glass. The palate is medium-to full-bodied, with dense layers of focused, harmonious fruit meshed with flinty spice notes and firm acidity. The finish is long and focused.

This is a poised, refined Chardonnay that will provide years of pleasure if cellared properly. Still tightly wound, food should lean toward the wine rather than compete with it. Try with Japanese-style grilled scallop with yuzu kosho, or white soy and mirin glazed mulloway.

More about this wine

This wine was grown in Neudorf’s Home Block, a north facing site at 60m elevation in Nelson’s Upper Moutere planted to the Mendoza clone. The soils here are typical Moutere clay-gravels with loamy topsoils.

The 2024 season was generous, with even, warm and sunny weather conditions, The fruit was harvested by hand, whole bunch pressed and allowed to settle for up to 48 hours. Fermented with indigenous yeasts and in French oak barrels of which 15% were new. The wine matured for 12 months with monthly stirring until the full malocatic fermentation was completed, and was then blended in stainless steel, where it spent four months on fine lees. The wine was not fined, but it was coarse filtered.

About Neudorf

Tim and Jude Finn planted the first vines at Neudorf in 1978. Their daughter Rosie is now the face of the winery, assisted by a team led by GM and winemaker Todd Stevens and viticulturist Stef Brockley.

Nelson’s Moutere Hills are in the centre of the northern tip of the South Island of New Zealand. The maritime climate here is heavily influenced by the Pacific and enjoys some of the highest sunshine hours in the country. The dry-grown, organic vineyard is planted on a gentle north-facing slope, the vines rooted in deep kaolinitic clay gravel soils.