Two new Chardonnays from Tony Bish Wines this month highlight the diversity of the world's most popular white grape variety. Chardonnay, and the Hawke's Bay wine region.

Chardonnay is often pigeon holed as big, creamy and buttery or lean and crisp, if it's a modern style fashioned after traditional Chablis, but in winemaker Tony Bish's hands, Chardonnay appears in a wider range of styles. Bish has a refreshing winemaking style and philosophy, which highlights the fact that Chardonnay is not an either-or grape variety but a both-and. He coaxes a wide range of styles, using a variety of vessels from his golden egg to the beautifully refined Taransaud French oak and that's without even talking about the vineyard sites, which are key to his wine styles.

The Tony Bish Wine family is a relatively small and extremely focussed with, which is now second generation with Tony Bish's son, Oscar Bish, now in his second year as assistant winemaker and CFO. 

18.5/20

2024 Tony Bish Golden Egg Hawke's Bay Chardonnay RRP $45, 13.6% abv

The name Golden Egg represents the egg shaped ferments in which this flavoursome Chardonnay is made and also suggests a full bodied, rounded shape and style of wine. The 2024 Tony Bish Golden Egg ticks those boxes and it has a richness of white peach, a note of caramel and aromas of cedar, subtle oak and a smoky hint that all bring layers of beauty to this complex wine. The egg shaped fermentation vessels keep yeast lees in suspension throughout the winemaking process, adding to the wine's shape, body and textural mouthfeel which is balanced by bright bold acidity. The 2024 vintage is superlative and this wine drinks beautifully now with further potential to age for eight to nine years+. Bravo. 

18/20

2024 Tony Bish Heartwood Hawke's Bay Chardonnay RRP $39.99, 13.5% abv

Heartwood Chardonnay is a labour of love made from hand picked grapes from two vineyard sites in Hawke's Bay; the referred Two Terraces vineyard in Mangatahi and the evocatively named Kōkakos Farms Vineyard in the Ohiti Valley. 

These excellent sites combine to bring flesh, body and balancing acidity to his wine, which was whole bunch pressed for full fermentation in French oak barriques; a combination of seasoned and new barrels. Further ageing for 11 months in barrel brings depth, smoothness, thanks to the controlled oxidative effects of the barrels - and it adds a subtle note of cedary spice. 

This wine is an excellent expression of Hawke's Bay Chardonnay now and will further evolve over the next six to seven years+. 

tonybishwines.co.nz