Wednesday Wines – Episode 226 – Six of the Best 2022 Hawke’s Bay Chardonnays
The wonderful people in Hawke’s Bay send out six sets of their top Chardonnays each year to select international wine writers in the UK, USA and Australia. I am honoured to be a recipient of these wines, and I have picked the finest six wines from the dozen for your delight. The prices noted are NZ$, taken from a quick search, and I hope some of these terrific wines make their way over to our shores before too long.
I have listed the wines in price order.
Here is a paragraph from Hawke’s Bay Winegrowers –
Hawke’s Bay Winegrowers are thrilled to announce the outstanding success of twelve Hawke’s Bay Chardonnays selected by Cameron Douglas MS for the fourth year running of the prestigious Hawke’s Bay Annual Chardonnay Collection Vintage 2022. After careful consideration from a pool of forty-two submissions, these exceptional wines represent the pinnacle of the 2022 vintage, embodying the distinctive characteristics that define Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay. Each wine tells a story of dedication, innovation, and a deep-rooted passion for winemaking excellence.
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2022 Craggy Range, Single Vineyard Kidnappers Vineyard Chardonnay NZ$32.95
Using a combination of French oak puncheons, foudres and stainless steel, with only 15% new oak in the mix, this is a devastatingly refreshing wine, and it was the only wine in the collection that felt like it had one foot planted firmly in Chablis! While this is not necessarily something I look for, it is fascinating to see flint, rock and chalkiness providing the backdrop to a wonderfully nervy wine. I often find comparing non-French Chardonnays to the more familiar wines of Burgundy a little trite, but as many of my readers will not be familiar with these wines, it ought to help them understand the shape and size of these wines. This is one of the more mineral-tinged creations, while others are fleshier! Flavour-wise, this is the easiest wine to understand and is the cheapest, too. The zesty fruit is dynamic, refreshing and delicious. 18/20
2022 Church Road, Grand Reserve Chardonnay NZ$37.95
I have not been a fan of this wine in the past as it has always seemed so sweet-fruited and exotic. I have never been a fan of tropical Chardonnay, and when combined with nutty oak, the results are too heady for my taste. The technical sheet mentions oak in the first sentence, ‘Oak use was reasonably restrained this year – 25% new – to avoid dominating the elegant nature of the vintage’. I can confirm that this comes through in the wine and is very welcome! The fruit is more controlled, too, and once again, the winemaker notes are very helpful. Two different vineyards are blended to create a more complex flavour, and cooling breezes and moderate temperatures indicate a more restrained style. That said, this is still a juicy white wine with a pliable, curvy form and lashings of glossiness. It is a little too bold and noisy on the palate, but there is fun to be had here with this main course-style wine. Reading and tasting the refinement introduced to this label is encouraging, making it a worthy inclusion in this sextet. 17.5/20
2022 Smith & Sheth, CRU, Heretaunga Chardonnay NZ$40.00
This is another wine drawing on fruit from two distinct sources, and it is 100% hand-harvested, whole-bunch pressed, and barrel fermented in a blend of new and aged French oak barriques and puncheons. 42% new oak is employed, but I cannot see it. This vibrant, energetic and cleansing style chimes with my tastes. I noted blanched almond notes (so that must be the discreet oak detail) and hints of discreet greenery and mintiness that bring a lifted and refreshing nature to the whole. Heretaunga is a lovely wine and one that conjures up thoughts of crips Saint-Aubins and mineral-soaked Chassagne-Montrachets. 18/20
2022 Bilancia, Kaikora Vineyard Chardonnay NZ$55.00
This is always a successful wine; once again, it blew my mind. The fruit was 100% hand-picked and then whole bunch-pressed to French oak barriques for fermentation. 33% new oak was used for 12 months. A couple of these wines showed serious class and definition, and this beauty has everything I am looking for. Depth without excess weight, complexity without overt oakiness or over-ripeness and forensic flavour detail – it’s all here. This is a fabulously ethereal and superbly balanced wine with seamless fruit that is not trying too hard, nor is it too dilute. Pervasive, gentle and with epic length, I love this wine. 19/20
2022 Tony Bish, Skeetfield Chardonnay NZ$85.00
I know Tony likes fleshier wines, and this expressive Chardy is made from old-vine, dry-farmed Mendoza clone Chardonnay vines. The fruit was hand-picked, whole bunch-pressed with minimal settling. It was then 100% barrel fermented and matured with a chunky 60% new Taransaud French oak. The first two words I wrote in my notes were Pouilly-Fuissé. This is because this wine shows warmth and generosity without looking too fat. Textural and pliable but also creamy and clean, this is a lovely wine with flamboyant intentions, but it stays on the right side of the line! 18.5/20
2022 Craggy Range, Les Beaux Cailloux Gimblett Gravels Chardonnay NZ$150.00
This wine gets the full treatment – 100% hand-harvested, 100% whole bunch-pressed, fermented and matured in French oak barriques and puncheons, and it is a stunner. Grand, expansive, effortlessly classy and yet still scintillatingly refreshing and bright as a button, this is a super detailed wine with a spectacular presence in the glass. It has been a favourite of mine for many, many years and in 2022, it might just be the finest ever made. 19/20