Whites & Rosé

Roll over: 100% Hawkes Bay Chardonnay

The very first job of Chardonnay is to be refreshing.

A bouquet of purity and focus with scents of fresh red apple and peach, citrus and moments of pith. There’s a definitive layer of stone and clay mineral then soft barrel scents, lees and complexities from the synergies presented. Satin cream textures touch the palate first then flavours of citrus, apple and white peach. As the wine opens out in glass and becomes ambient the impact of acidity, ripe fruits and soil mineral qualities begin to emerge. Taut, youthful and dry, a lengthy finish with a fine mealy mouthfeel and developing complexity. Best drinking from 2024 through 2032. 95 points Cameron Douglas MS

Pair with good friends, crayfish, risotto, chargrilled chicken or well seasoned fish.

Helio is the side project put together by talented Clearview winemakers Sarah & Matt Kirby and wine entrepreneur Dave Nash.

Roll over: Weingut Egon Müller is a renowned wine estate based just outside the village of Wiltingen.

Roll over: Fresh, succulent stonefruit with a citrus backbone.

I tasted five different lots that will be blended into the 2020 Hermitage Blanc, from Péléat, l'Ermite and three parts of Les Rocoules. Full-bodied, honeyed and rich, this should be another outstanding vintage for Chave's white, with the incredible lushness of the bigger wines balanced by the zestiness found at the top of Les Rocoules and the delicacy and freshness of L'Ermite. RP96-98 Robert Parker.com

In an amazing example of vinous lineage, the Chave family has been growing grapes on the hill of Hermitage since 1481. Today the estate is run by Gerard Chave and his son Jean-Louis and they produce some of the regions finest wines including a red & white Hermitage, a St-Joseph and a Côtes du Rhône Mon Coeur. Superb vineyard holdings including prime slices of Bessards, L'Hermite, Peleat and Meal in Hermitage, and incredibly high standards in both the vineyard and cellar, the wines are made in a very hands-off fashion and show great detail, nuance and regional typicity.

Roll over: The meeting of two winemakers from the two hemispheres.

The 2020 season was very cool—it snowed during vintage—and the wine spent an extended time in oak: 26 months, as opposed to 32 months for the 2019 and 17 months for the 2018. The yield this year was one barrel more than the 2019, another interesting point. So, the 2020 Cuvée Aux Antipodes Blanc feels the sweet spot in terms of minerality and savoriness—it is restrained and composed and aromatically voluminous. In the mouth, the wine touches both extremes. The composure of the fruit is enlivened by the electricity from the acidity, and the combination is a truly exciting and svelte drinking experience. It's really, really good. The phenolics are tightly woven and flowing through the finish, and these grab the flavor and propel it further into the finish. Remarkable wine. Superb. Nine barrels were made. 12.5% alcohol, sealed under Diam. 97 Robert Parker.com

Prophet’s Rock know that great wines begin in the vineyard. That’s why they embrace an approach to winemaking that shares the splendour of the place rather than pronounced winemaking characteristics. The result Iconic wines that invoke Central Otago’s striking, unforgettable beauty.

Roll over: Aromatic and Floral - a Pinot Gris for grownups.

"A textural delight, with powerful, delicious aromas and flavours of ripe apple, Nashi pear, touches of honeysuckle. This is a truly aromatic expression of Pinot Gris and a marvelous food wine." - Prophet's Rock

The 2022 Pinot Gris is fabulously dry and textural, with crushed rocks, white flowers, hints of nashi pear (and pear drops), white tea and brine in the mouth. The wine flows seamlessly from start to finish and is a complex but silky rendition of the variety. It makes sense that Winemaker Paul Pujol has a good sense of the variety, having worked in Alsace at Maison Kuentz-Bas for three years prior to coming to Prophet's Rock. Fully matured in old oak, the wine is fresh but also very long and lingering—a sure sign that it has a long future in front of it. 14% alcohol, sealed under Diam. 94 Robert Parker.com

Roll over: Soulful white. Argentina's answer to Montrachet. James Suckling

I had the opportunity to taste two vintages (2020 and 2021) of the top whites side by side and could see the differences of the two years quite clearly, as the wines express the natural conditions of the year quite faithfully. The 2020 White Stones Chardonnay is riper than the other three wines; it's a very good wine, but it shows the warmer year with a rounder mouthfeel, faintly creamy, still a little closed in the nose, which slowly reveals yellow fruit and some spice. The palate is quite gentle, with 13% alcohol and very good balance. 7,500 bottles produced. Robert Parker.com

Roll over: Ferraton Père et Fils is a wine producer located in Tain l'Hermitage in the northern Rhone. It is best known for its red wines made from Syrah and its white wines made from Marsanne and Roussanne. 

A ripe, languid style, with a creamy display of melon, fig, pear and quince flavors gliding through, backed by brioche and shortbread notes on the long, caressing finish. Flickers of matchstick and hazelnut in the background add intrigue. Best from 2021 through 2029. 130 cases made. 94 Wine Spectator

Roll over: 100% Roussanne

This white Saint-Joseph wine is made from pure Roussanne, from mature rootstock that hails from the walled 4-hectare 'Clos Forentin' vineyard which the Chaves acquired in 2009. Fewer than 400 cases are produced annually and it is popular on export markets, as with many Chave wines. It has lovely almond and acacia flower scents and wonderfully-textured white stone fruit palate with a long, elegant finish.

In an amazing example of vinous lineage, the Chave family has been growing grapes on the hill of Hermitage since 1481. Today the estate is run by Gerard Chave and his son Jean-Louis and they produce some of the regions finest wines including a red & white Hermitage, a St-Joseph and a Côtes du Rhône Mon Coeur. Superb vineyard holdings including prime slices of Bessards, L'Hermite, Peleat and Meal in Hermitage, and incredibly high standards in both the vineyard and cellar, the wines are made in a very hands-off fashion and show great detail, nuance and regional typicity.

Roll over: Fresh, succulent stonefruit with a citrus backbone.

Chave's 2019 Hermitage Blanc delivers just the merest hint of toasted grain on the nose, accenting green peaches and waves of honeyed richness. It's full-bodied and concentrated but not overdone, with tremendous length and a hint of bitterness on the finish that left me wondering if this wine will need 20 years to show its best, or if it was still suffering a bit from being bottled in July 2021. RP95 Robert Parker.com

In an amazing example of vinous lineage, the Chave family has been growing grapes on the hill of Hermitage since 1481. Today the estate is run by Gerard Chave and his son Jean-Louis and they produce some of the regions finest wines including a red & white Hermitage, a St-Joseph and a Côtes du Rhône Mon Coeur. Superb vineyard holdings including prime slices of Bessards, L'Hermite, Peleat and Meal in Hermitage, and incredibly high standards in both the vineyard and cellar, the wines are made in a very hands-off fashion and show great detail, nuance and regional typicity.

Roll over: A wine for Chablis lovers because of its freshness 

Consisting of roughly equal parts Montmains, Butteaux and Forêts (the three sous-climats of Montmains), the 2020 Chablis 1er Cru Montmains offers up aromas of crisp green apple, white flowers, bee pollen and oyster shell. Medium to full-bodied, satiny and concentrated, it's taut and precise, concluding with a saline finish. Robert Parker.com

Roll over: Full-bodied palate, with lovely roundness.

Derived from old vines in Les Minots (that are a source for the Fèvre massale selection), as well as holdings in Roncières and Chatains, the 2020 Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons unwinds in the glass with notes of white flowers, crisp stone fruit and clear honey. Medium to full-bodied, satiny and enveloping, it's a beautifully vibrant, racy wine that concludes with a long, penetrating finish. It's the best young Vaillons I've ever tasted chez Fèvre. Robert Parker.com

Roll over: Excellent nerve and acidity with real cut and potential. 

One of the finest wines in the portfolio this year is the 2020 Chablis 1er Cru Vaulorent, a taut, youthfully reserved bottling of immense promise. Unwinding in the glass with aromas of citrus zest, beeswax, crisp white peach, white flowers, freshly baked bread and oyster shell, it's medium to full-bodied, ample and seamless, with terrific tensioning intensity in a tightly wound format. It's warmly recommended, though patience will be required. Robert Parker.com

Roll over: White - Dry and Nutty

2022 marks the thirteenth limited release of Tio Pepe Fino en Rama. Tio Pepe en Rama is an unfiltered and unclarified Tio Pepe, bottled during Spring when the flor growth is at its thickest. "En Rama" is the term used in the bodega for its sherry in its raw, most delicate state, as if drinking from the cask itself.

Roll over: Very tight and earthy, a worthy and unconventional Amontillado

The most aged of the Palmas series, Cuatro displays powerful, almost fiery aromas of caramel and briny stone fruits. The palate is so charged up and acidic that it's no walk in the park to get through, while nutty flavors of rancio and burnt toast finish with heat. Of all the Palmas wines, this is the one that shows afterburners.

Roll over: Nutty, citric and zesty on the finish

Intense, well-directed aromas are staunch, woody and suggest turpentine before pulling back. A lemony palate is loaded with citric acidity, which creates an electric mouthfeel. Nutty, citric and zesty on the finish, this is a superb artisan fino with a high level of complexity.

It's ready to drink now or in the next two to three years. Serve lightly chilled, ideally with dried jamón.

Roll over: Fino taken to the next level

Gold in color and ideal on the nose courtesy of alluring walnut, nutmeg and briny aromas, this elevated fino is both crisp as well as viscous. Flavors of almond skins, saline and dried apricot finish with purity and supreme confidence. This is fino taken to the next level