The 2022 Chardonnay from the high-density Lion's Tooth parcel is an arresting wine that sucks you in but doesn’t spit you out. It’s not a wine you'll want to spit out either. This 2022 draws you in with its harmony, expansive nature, silken texture and sense of tranquility. It is subtle in its flavors - this is Chardonnay, after all – with flinty characters giving way to toasted nuts and oatmeal, lemon curd and nectarine. This is not a fruity but savory, restrained style that focused on texture over aromatics. Meditation for the mouth.

Medium depth yellow colour with a rich buttery/honeyed and peachy bouquet with a subtle touch of struck-flint, the palate rounder, fuller and softer than the Field of Fire, with beautifully harmonious acidity and a long finish.

Pure and polished aromas of lemon confit, lime curd, chalk and orange blossoms. The medium-bodied palate has bright, piercing acidity and tightly wound flavors of grapefruit peel, flint, dough, green apples and pastry cream. High tension, showing layers of complexity that will unravel with time. Excellent. Drink or hold. Screw cap.

Chardonnay, biodynamically farmed since planting in 2000, from an east-facing 0.4ha slice of the Pyramid Valley Waikari estate. Light straw with aromas of nectarine and grapefruit with hints of soft spice, oyster shell, lemon curd, white flowers, clover blossom, crushed flint, grilled cashews and Graham crackers. Taut, febrile and filigreed with a sapid, saline burst of acidity that perfectly balances the richness of the stone fruits as the wine trails away.

Soft and supple, flows beautifully, an intensity of fruit, the DNA of the wine bound by nutty savouriness, shortbread, ginger, crushed granitic mineral characters, and around that green apple, lime, preserved lemon, mixed floral elements. It feels relaxed in texture, a great deal of space and dimension to the wine, but freshness is inherent. A gentle sour-sweetness and hay-straw character in there too. Pleasure and intellect buttons pressed.