2025 Stargazer Chardonnay, Coal River Valley

The latest Chardonnay from Samantah Connew’s Stargazer label, with the previous 2024 vintage rated 97 points by The Real Review.

We’ll add our tasting notes for this wine soon. In the meantime, here’s what Samantha herself saw in the glass when sampling the 2025 on release:

“Light straw in colour with green edges, the nose shows some distinct floral notes of tea tree and manuka with sage flower in the background. On the palate there is plenty of fresh lemon zest characters typical of Coal River Valley with some yellow nectarine filling out the fruit profile. This fruit is perfectly integrated with the oak which contributes some nougat and hazelnut skin complexity.”

More about this wine

The fruit for this Coal River Valley wine comes mostly from Stargazer’s Palisander vineyard, supplemented by fruit from growers in Richmond (Marengo) and Penna (Brinktop).

The handpicked whole bunches were pressed directly to French Mercurey puncheons of which a quarter were new. Fermented with indigenous yeasts, the wine was allowed full malolactic conversion and was left in the barrels for a total of ten months without lees stirring. The blended wine rested further in stainless steel for two months prior to bottling.

About this producer

Stargazer pays tribute to Abel Tasman, the Dutchman who is believed to be the first European to sight Tasmania and the South Island of New Zealand in 1642. Founder and winemaker Sam Connew is a born and bred South Islander who fell in love with Tasmania after fifteen years of vintages across the globe. Her Palisander Vineyard in the upper reaches of Coal River in Lutruwita/Tasmania was planted by its original owners in 2002 to Riesling and Pinot Noir and expanded in 2017 by Sam with more of the same (but increasing clone numbers) and four clones of Chardonnay. Pinots Blanc and Gris followed in 2021, along with Gamay and Gewürztraminer.

The property sits on brown dermosol soil over Jurassic dolerite and is particularly high in calcium associated with thicker skins and slower ripening. Sam believes in the strength of biodiversity and regenerative agriculture and uses sheep and chickens for manure distribution and weed and bug control. Bees and other insects are essential for vine pollination too, and Sam has planted over 1000 local plants on the property since 2020 to provide them with food around the year.