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![VillaMaria Keltern Vineyard]( "VillaMaria Keltern Vineyard")
With an incredible track record of awards and accolades, the Keltern Vineyard has truly established itself as one of New Zealand’s premier sites for Chardonnay. Displaying a brilliant straw and lime tinted hue in the glass, the nose offers a fragrant and complex medley of white nectarine and gun smoke, complemented by underlying notes of flint and toast. A sleek, tightly woven palate gradually unfolds, leading to a finish with genuine length and class.
In addition to our newly released 2019, we have also released the following vintages for a limited time to purchase online: 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018
Simply select your preferred vintage from the drop down below.
$79.99
- We only ship to New Zealand addresses from this online store. To find our wine near you please go to or our stockists page.
- Freight included for orders of $130 or more.
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Tasting Notes
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With an outstanding track record of awards and accolades, the Keltern Vineyard has truly established itself as one of New Zealand’s premier sites for Chardonnay. Displaying a brilliant straw and lime-tinted hue in the glass, the nose offers a fragrant and complex medley of white nectarine and subtle complexing sulphides, complemented by underlying notes of flint and toast. A sleek, tightly woven palate gradually unfolds, leading to a finish with genuine length and class. This wine will develop further complexity, mineral and toast like characters with careful cellaring.
Download full tasting notes for details on individual vintages: 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
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Vineyards and Winemaking
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Located east of the Maraekakaho region in Hawkes Bay, directly in the path of cool air currents flowing from a mountain range to the west, the Keltern Vineyard is an inland site, buffered by the Ngaruroro River. Established on an ancient riverbed planted in 1999, the vineyard has silt loams layered over red metals, including large free-draining gravel stones.
Vines range in age up to 16 years, mainly cl15, cl95 and cl548, and at maturity are pruned and thinned to one bunch per shoot to target 6-7T/Ha.
Keltern Chardonnay is rapidly gaining cult status. It’s a rich and highly concentrated chardonnay with peach, nectarine, apple, fresh baguette and nutty oak flavours. The fruit sweetness is perfectly balanced by ripe acidity. A delicious wine that promises to get even better with bottle age.
Bob Cambell MW
Keltern Chardonnay through the years
2018 Vintage
Stunning and elegant, this is exquisitely composed and expressed on the nose showing white flesh nectarine, grapefruit, fig and lemon pith characters with nuances of spicy oak and flint. The palate exhibits exceptional concentration and focus, wonderfully enhanced by refined texture and perfectly pitched acidity. It’s splendidly poised and brilliantly structured for a long haul. At its best: 2022 to 2030.
97 Points
Sam Kim
2017 Vintage
Floral, flinty, fragrant, complex and enticing bouquet. Aromas and flavours of white-fleshed fruits, oak and wood spice. White peach and red apple, gun metal and flint, stones and tannin textures. A delicious wine with tension, poise and length. Drink now and through 2030.
95 Points
Cameron Douglas
2016 Vintage
There's just the right amount of flint and butter in this round and full bodied, powerful Chardonnay but it's not big nor fat. It remains compact in the mouth with plenty of precision on the finish. Very classy.
94 Points
Rebecca Gibb MW
2015 Vintage
Grown at the Keltern Vineyard, a warm, inland site east of Maraekakaho, this consistently impressive wine is hand-picked, fermented with indigenous yeasts and lees-aged in French oak barriques (35 per cent new in 2015). Powerful, with youthful, vibrant, citrusy, peachy flavours, well-integrated oak and a long finish, the 2015 vintage (5*) has slightly smoky notes adding complexity. Weighty, fresh, intense and tightly
5 Stars
Michael Cooper
2012 Vintage
Fragrant wine with strong, citrusy, slightly biscuity flavours, showing excellent balance of fruit and oak, good complexity, lively acidity and a tight, lingering finish. Well worth cellaring.
