The wines of Fraser Gallop Estate are intensely flavoured, textured and complex. Only the finest quality French oak barrels are used for all Fraser Gallop Estate wines, with very specific Bordelais coopers used for the Cabernet Sauvignon and Semillon Sauvignon Blanc blends, and Burgundian coopers for the Chardonnay. The complete winemaking process takes place at the estate - picking to vinification to barrel maturation to bottling to cellaring. Fraser Gallop Estate is an estate grown, produced and bottled wine. Flavours of lemon curd and grapefruit with searing length. A wine with clarity and finesse. A tightly focussed and very precise wine showing seamless fruit purity with the lightly toasted French oak very much in the background. Crystalline acidity and a mouth-watering finish complete this Chardonnay.

'Wow Tangy mixed citrus peel and complex white stonefruit smelling; subtle flintiness and icy cold quartz. Amazing the mouth too: intense, long, edgy and mouth-sucking. So complex and charged with energy that descriptors elude.' (2012 Vintage) - 97/100. - Australian Financial Review, 29 Aug 2014.

Small-batch Chardonnay from Marlborough negociants Novum. Stonefruit, cream and mineral on the nose. Flintiness meets fruit on the palate, making for a distinctive medium-bodied wine. An appealingly long finish shows this to be a top tier Chardonnay. Novum use small parcels of fruit from specially selected sites on established Marlborough vineyards to craft the best wines and expressions of terroir possible. Their first vintage arrived in 2016. Novums primary focus is on Syrah, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

FABIEN COCHE, Bourgogne Chardonnay Grandes Coutures

Aromas of meyer lemon, nectarine and jasmine. Flavors of yellow plum, dAnjou pear, tangerine and toasted hazelnut. Richly textured, velvety and concentrated with balanced acidity and subtle toast. The fruit was hand-picked, whole cluster pressed and settled for twenty four hours before being racked to barrel for fermentation. Fifteen percent of the lot was co-inoculated with a house strain of malolactic bacteria; these barrels were then used to top the remainder of the lot during post primary fermentation. The lees were stirred 1-2 times per month and the wine was aged for nine months. Over 30 years of experience working with chardonnay and pinot noir have established La Crema as a winery of consistent quality. La Crema produces wines from top cool-climate appellations to include; Russian River Valley, Sonoma Coast, Monterey and most recently Willamette. The unifying factors of all these sites are their cool, windy climates and marine-based soils. La Crema's vineyards are all harvested by hand in the cooler morning hours. The winemaking techniques are primarily traditional with modern enhancements to ensure that the wines are true to both the variety and the terroir. Chardonnays are whole-cluster pressed and fermented and aged in French oak on the lees with bi-monthly battonage to add texture and complexity. The Pinot Noirs are cold soaked for five to eight days before fermentation in small, open-top fermenters and aged in a combination of new and used French oak barrels. As with the Chardonnay, La Crema's Pinot Noirs are pure, accurate and reflective of their origin. Outstanding vineyard sources, limited yields and artisanal wine making produce wines that receive high acclaim.