2024 Villa Maria Keltern Chardonnay, Hawkes Bay

The Keltern Chardonnay now sits within Villa Maria's 'Icon' range of wines, the wine having established a solid track record of excellence over the years. Light straw in the glass with characters of baked apple, grapefruit, peach and nectarine over hints of barrel spice, crushed minerals, white flowers, wet stone, nougat, crème fraîche and a suggestion of struck flint. The palate expands with flavours - grapefruit, spiced oatmeal and peach- before being reigned in by a fine, briny acidity, gaining momentum as it drives to a sustained exit. Drink to 2032.

95 points Dave Brookesfor Halliday Wine Companion, August 2026

The 2024 Chardonnay Keltern is sophisticated and richly concentrated. While the nose is a little oaky at first, that's the burden of youth. The 2024 offers clarity, concentration, freshness and fullness. A lovely phenolic texture leaves an appetising sensation in the cheeks. The flinty finish is long, precise and purposeful. If New Zealand had Grand Crus, the Keltern would be one of them. It's on form in 2024. Drink to 2035.

95 points Rebecca Gibb for Vinous, February 2026

A serious, textural and flavorful chardonnay. On the nose it shows spiced apples, dried pears, baking spices and some cedar. Medium-bodied with fresh acidity. Seductive texture on the palate. Plenty of tension, yet it remains focused and driven. Long finish. Sustainable. Drink or hold. 

95 points Kevin Davy for James Suckling, October 2025

Villa Maria Keltern Chardonnay from Marlborough is one of New Zealand’s most acclaimed single-vineyard Chardonnays, consistently recognised for its elegance, power, and precision. Sourced from the Keltern Vineyard in the inland foothills of Hawke’s Bay’s Mangatahi subregion (not Marlborough), this wine captures the tension between ripeness and restraint that defines great cool-climate Chardonnay.

Planted in 1999, the Keltern site sits on ancient river terraces with free-draining soils composed of silt and loam over gravel. Cool nights and long daylight hours allow for slow ripening, which contributes to the wine’s structure and refined acidity. Hand picked fruit is whole-bunch pressed and fermented with wild yeasts in French oak barriques, with around 30 to 40 percent new oak. Lees stirring and full malolactic conversion add complexity, while preserving the vineyard’s hallmark purity.