Chardonnay
Prices:
This excellent Chardonnay combines tropical fruit aromas with mouth-watering freshness, symptomatic of the cooling effect of the Humboldt Current – an Antarctic air flow that caresses Chile’s Pacific coast, just 50 kilometres from Javiera’s vineyards. This wine is food-friendly and fun.
Will Heslop, Buyer. Berry Bros. & Rudd
Adam Bruntlett - Wine Buyer
H/Bottle
£7.50
H/Bottle 24 x 37.5cl 276cs
Bottle
£12.50
Bottle 12 x 75cl 841cs
Katherine Dart MW - Wine Buyer, June 2017
Bottle
£7.75
Bottle 6 x 75cl 3cs
Alpamanta are pioneers of Argentine bio-dynamic farming and minimal intervention wine—making. This approach has spawned a subtly oaked Chardonnay wine, with tropical fruit ripeness well balanced by citrus freshness, which has developed very well in bottle, despite an expectation that it might have been drunk earlier. A very pleasant surprise.
Bottle
£12.00
Bottle 12 x 75cl 18cs
Might this be even better in 2015 than ’14? The fresh acidity remains, but the warmer ’15 vintage has underlined its gorgeous stone-fruit aromatics and contributed extra weight to the palate. Luxurious, balanced and tremendous value.
Bottle
£12.50
Bottle 12 x 75cl 25cs
Our Australian Chardonnay was previously sourced from Elderton (the same people who make our own-label Shiraz) in the Barossa. This wine, however, comes from the cooler climate found in Frankland River, Western Australia. As a result, the wine is leaner and fresher, with a delicious zing.
The nose is pure and full of white peach fruit with a fresh sea-salt hint. Ripe pears and yellow apples follow, and a lemon citrus note brings a refreshing zip to the palate. The wine has an appealing texture and a light hint of toast adds complexity to the finish. This would be a delicious accompaniment to seafood linguine and creamy chicken dishes alike.
Bottle
£12.50
Bottle 12 x 75cl 161cs
Bottle
£12.95
Bottle 12 x 75cl 144cs
Will Heslop - Buyer
Bottle
£12.95
Bottle 6 x 75cl 40cs
Until 31st August 2017 this product is discounted by up to 30%. Prices shown include discount; no further discount will be applied at checkout.
In 2002 a group of friends bought land in the premium Gualtallaray zone of the Uco Valley. A well-known local winemaker used their fruit for his top terroir wine. His first vintage of the Malbec achieved 94 Parker points, leading the wines to be bottled under the autonomous Ambrosía label. The 2013 is the debut vintage of Ambrosía’s Chardonnay and it is impressive.
Warm lemon and white peach aromas are followed by riper flavours of yellow apple and nectarine, accompanied by toasty notes of lees-ageing. Ripe but refined with good texture and length, this is exclusive to Berry Bros. & Rudd in the UK. Match with roast loin of pork, macaroni cheese, Gruyère cheese.
Bottle
£13.95
Bottle 6 x 75cl 18cs
Bottle
£13.95
Bottle 12 x 75cl 94cs
BK Wines (Brendon and Kirstyn Keys) sources fruit from some of the most exciting growers in the region. Their familiar relationship with their growers is reflected in this wine’s name, which, with the blessing of the grower concerned, refers to an anatomical deficiency and has nothing whatsoever to do with cricket.
Fresh as a summer's day, the aromas of this wine are vibrant and appealing with notes of lemon and lime coming to the fore. The palate is focused and mineral with a lovely purity coming through. It is textured with a hint of toast on the long finish. This is a beautiful, precise wine and it is impressively balanced with only 12.5 percent alcohol.
BK Wines (Brendon and Kirstyn Keys) sources fruit from some of the most exciting growers in the region. Their familiar relationship with their growers is reflected in this wine’s name which, with the blessing of the grower concerned, refers to an anatomical deficiency and has nothing whatsoever to do with cricket.
Bottle
£15.00
Bottle 12 x 75cl 1cs
Guy Mothe built up the highly successful Domaine du Colombier by starting with a tiny holding and then acquiring small parcels of land that came up for sale over the years. Today the domaine has 33 hectares of vineyards and is run by Guy`s son, Thierry. The estate is a first-class source of pure, unoaked, mineral-laden Chablis – a truly typical style that is worthy of our Own Selection range.
The 2015 vintage in Chablis was characterised by a warm dry summer which has lent this wine a riper fruit profile than its predecessor. When we joined Thierry Mothe to select the blend we therefore took great care in choosing parcels which offered refreshing acidity and minerality in order to preserve the steely character of classic Chablis. Its aromas of citrus and oyster shell point to a predictable (but unsurpassable) pairing with shellfish.
Bottle
£15.50
Bottle 12 x 75cl 91cs
Bottle
£15.75
Bottle 12 x 75cl 1cs
Wine of the Week
Our latest Wine of the Week, this complex, aromatic Chilean Chardonnay, will elevate any mid-August meal to dizzy new heights.
The unoaked 2015 Larkün Chardonnay was sourced from vines planted in 1992 on soils rich in clay, sand and volcanic ashes in Itata. It fermented in stainless steel and didn't go through malolactic fermentation but was kept in contact with the lees for 12 months to show a purer expression of the place and the grape. 2015 was cooler than 2014 but still warmer than average and also very dry, and the wine shows quite fresh and somehow austere, slowly developing more balsamic aromas. The palate is also quite fresh and austere with pungent flavors and a slightly bitter finish. 3,800 bottles were filled in March 2016.
Drink 2017-2019.
Luis Gutiérrez, The Wine Advocate. 28th April 2017.
Bottle
£16.95
Bottle 6 x 75cl 117cs
Jasper Morris MW, Wine Buyer
Volumes for 2015 are down after the pre-harvest hail but the quality here is exemplary. The father and daughter team of Laurent and Charlène Pinson, aided by other members of the family, continue to make excellent and very fairly priced wines from a range of vineyards. Part of our selection is shown below. The wines are mostly vinified in stainless steel then given a proportion of barrel ageing.
Bottle
£16.95
Bottle 12 x 75cl 37cs
Will Heslop - Wine Buyer
Bottle
£16.95
Bottle 12 x 75cl 8cs
Will Heslop, Buyer. Berry Bros. & Rudd.
Bottle
£17.25
Bottle 12 x 75cl 29cs
Bottle
£17.50
Bottle 12 x 75cl 14cs
Jasper Morris - Wine Buyer
Bottle
£17.95
Bottle 6 x 75cl 47cs
Jasper Morris MW
This feels a world away from nearby Chablis: an exotic, pineapple, almost passion fruit, and tinned peach nose leads to a fulsome palate which is quite round and fat, yet still manages to retain its eponymous elegance.
Bottle
£17.95
Bottle 12 x 75cl 125cs
Bottle
£17.95
Bottle 12 x 75cl 11cs
Bottle
£17.95
Bottle 12 x 75cl 48cs
Lisa Perrotti-Brown, eRobertParker.com #208 Aug 2013
Bottle
£18.50
Bottle 12 x 75cl 7cs
The 2013 Chardonnay is a funked-up, full-on sulphide led wine, which is OK because there’s plenty of intense fruit to back-up the winemaking. The nose has a stuck-match and savory / minerally appeal supporting the ripe peach, passion fruit and spiced apple pie scents plus a nutty undercurrent. Medium-bodied, it fills the mouth with creamy, stone fruit and marzipan characters supported by a lively acid line and finishing with great persistence.
Lisa Perrotti-Brown, The Wine Advocate. 31st December 2015.
Bottle
£18.95
Neal Martin, The Wine Advocate. 31st August 2016.
Bottle
£18.95
Bottle 6 x 75cl 77cs
Jasper Morris MW, Wine Buyer
Samuel has not only been able to take back his share of the family vineyards but he has also moved into some excellent premises which he has been refurbishing, in the heart of Chablis. It was good to find him in such a cheerful frame of mind. The long, slow vinification of his 2015s has done the wines a lot of good. We found a concentration of minerality and characteristic saline finishes.
Bottle
£19.95
Bottle 12 x 75cl 73cs
100% chardonnay.
Cool & discreet.
Bottle
£19.95
Bottle 12 x 75cl 28cs
Bottle
£19.95
Bottle 12 x 75cl 22cs
Les Héritiers du Comte Lafon 's Viré-Clessé is made from the old vines surrounding the Château de Viré. It has a fine pale colour and a rich, almost exotic bouquet. Despite the opulence of the nose, the wine is very harmonious on the palate, with some greengage and melon fruit. It has impressive weight and a fine, long finish.
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Wine Director
Both 2012 and 2013 have proved to be half-sized crops for Dominique Lafon’s Mâconnais domaine, nonetheless, 2012 was a very fine vintage here, and all wines were bottled just before the harvest, using DIAM corks.
Bottle
£19.95
Bottle 12 x 75cl 6cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl 1cs
Chardonnay is the "Big Daddy" of white wine grapes and one of the most widely planted in the world. It is suited to a wide variety of soils, though it excels in soils with a high limestone content as found in Champagne, Chablis, and the Côte D`Or.
Burgundy is Chardonnay's spiritual home and the best White Burgundies are dry, rich, honeyed wines with marvellous poise, elegance and balance. They are unquestionably the finest dry white wines in the world. Chardonnay plays a crucial role in the Champagne blend, providing structure and finesse, and is the sole grape in Blanc de Blancs.
It is quantitatively important in California and Australia, is widely planted in Chile and South Africa, and is the second most widely planted grape in New Zealand. In warm climates Chardonnay has a tendency to develop very high sugar levels during the final stages of ripening and this can occur at the expense of acidity. Late picking is a common problem and can result in blowsy and flabby wines that lack structure and definition.
Recently in the New World, we have seen a move towards more elegant, better- balanced and less oak-driven Chardonnays, and this is to be welcomed.