Lake Chalice ‘The Raptor’ Marlborough Chardonnay offers a full-bodied experience with bold flinty notes and delicate peach undertones. Its creamy, fresh palate reveals layers of flint, lemon blossom, and biscuity nuances, enhanced by subtle oak spice. Pale straw in colour, it presents aromas of dried orange peel and smoke. The silky smooth palate finishes with hints of spice and savoury pastry. Enjoy this complex wine now or cellar it for 5+ years to deepen its character. Perfect for those who appreciate a balanced and richly textured Chardonnay.

About the Producer

Lake Chalice was established in 1989 with a vision of producing internationally recognised wines from the heart of the Marlborough region. New Zealands native falcon, the Krearea, is proudly displayed on every bottle of Lake Chalice wine. Krearea favour the remote mountains and foothills of the upper Awatere and Wairau Valleys and these valleys are home to Lake Chalices three unique vineyard sites. Each vineyard has a diverse microclimate, biodiversity and terroir which are seamlessly translated into multi award winning wines by talented winemaker Chloe Gabrielsen. Taking a boutique approach, she handcrafts parcels of fruit from single vineyards into elegant, aromatic, fruit driven wines and has garnered a global reputation of outstanding quality. Certified Sustainable Winegrower of New Zealand.

Vineyard and Winery

The grapes are sourced exclusively from mature vines within a single hectare vineyard block called the Reed Vineyard. This beautiful vineyard is situated on an old riverbed, where the shallow, loamy Renwick soils are derived from stony alluvium and offer the wine excellent drainage. The vines are a mixture of Burgundian Chardonnay clones; predominantly they are clone 95, with a proportion of Mendoza clones and some clone 15. The fruit from this block has become renowned for delivering crisp, flinty flavours. The carefully selected fruit is hand-harvested in order to pick some as whole bunches, for additional complexity when vinified.

The grapes were carefully selected and vinified with 100% wild yeasts. Some were vinified as whole bunches, to add complexity. Fermentation took place in a selection of new and seasoned French oak barriques, lasting 10 months where malolactic conversion took place imparting a creamy texture.