- Winery: Askerne Wines
- Wine Region: Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand
- Variety: Chardonnay
- Vintage: 2024
- Price: $36.90 NZD
- Find it: from the winery
- Alcohol content: 14%
- You’ll like this if: you love a rich, toasty Chardonnay that still has plenty of zing
- Body: Full
- Mouthfeel: Creamy
- Taste: Toasty, Zingy, Nutty
- Flavours: Peach, Lemon, Hazelnut
- Enjoy it with: A long lunch and good company
Food pairings: Roast chicken, creamy mushroom pasta, brie
Wine review: Askerne Reserve Chardonnay 2024
I’ve really been enjoying tasting my way through some of the Chardonnays from Hawke’s Bay, and I have to say the Askerne Reserve Chardonnay 2024 really caught my attention. The first sniff of this one had me hooked. It opens with golden peach and baked stone fruit, then ripe lemon and lemon curd, with a little spiced apple and pineapple for good measure. Underneath, a lovely toasty layer of roasted hazelnut and macadamia, a perfumed floral lift, sweet oak spice, and a touch of flint and smoke. It’s rich but lifted at the same time, a tricky balance Askerne nails.
On the palate, it’s rich, creamy and wonderfully textural, but it never feels heavy. Zesty grapefruit and juicy citrus cut through the stone fruit; there’s a chalky grip that keeps things interesting, and savoury toasty oak and a hint of vanilla sit in the background. Bright acidity holds it all together and carries into a long, nutty finish that keeps you coming back for another sip. It’s drinking beautifully now, but it should happily cruise through to 2030 and beyond if you have the willpower to cellar a bottle.
About Askerne Wines
Askerne has one of those lovely “two wine lovers took a punt” origin stories. In April 1993, John and Kathryn Loughlin bought a site on Te Mata Mangateretere Road in Havelock North, originally 28 acres of bare river terraces. Before taking the plunge, they studied winemaking and viticulture, and the story goes that Kathryn was the more diligent student with the better grades. John kept the finances going as a manager at a big meat company, while Kathryn ran the vineyard.
The name comes from Askern, the Yorkshire town where Kathryn was born, and it’s an old English spelling that gives the place a lot of charm. The first wines were made in 1996 at Waimarama Estate Winery, which was owned by John’s father, and the cellar door opened in February 1997. That 1997 vintage turned out gorgeous Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay, which proved the site had real potential. Today it’s a single-estate winery of about 50 acres, making elegant wines that are as good with dinner as they are on their own.
Learn more about this wine on their website.
Note: This wine was sent as a sample. I was under no obligation to post about it.