2022 Pyramid Valley Field of Fire Chardonnay

96 POINTS

Mike Bennie - The Wine Front

Expansive, succulent white of depth and concentration with pretty lift and complexity from jasmine florals, warm straw, hazelnut and button mushroom savouriness amongst the mandarin, ginger, lime, green apple going on. The supple flow stretches luxuriously through the palate and finishes with a light, building chalky pucker. It’s such a chilled out white, but so much is going on. And gosh it drinks beautifully.

96 POINTS

Mike Bennie - The Wine Front

About four hours skin contact before pressing. Expansive, succulent white of depth and concentration with pretty lift and complexity from jasmine florals, warm straw, hazelnut and button mushroom savouriness amongst the mandarin, ginger, lime, green apple going on. The supple flow stretches luxuriously through the palate and finishes with a light, building chalky pucker. It’s such a chilled out white, but so much is going on. And gosh it drinks beautifully.

96 POINTS

Dave Brookes - Halliday Wine Companion

From a scant 0.3ha southeast-facing high-density planting of chardonnay on limestone/clay soils of the home estate. Wonderfully detailed white peach and citrus fruit with wisps of struck flint, soft spice, clotted cream, oyster shell, toasted hazelnuts, white flowers and crushed stone. Plenty of depth and flow on the palate but there's a real sense of sapidity and mouth-watering mineral drive, finishing chalky and uber pure.

96 POINTS

Christina Pickard - Wine Enthusiast

A thinker's wine, this distinctive bottling, from one of the great sites in New Zealand, opens with layers of aromas: preserved lemon, pineapple rind; distinctive local herb and wild mushroom nuances perch atop richer, flintier, nuttier notes. It's pithy and textural, with vibrant lemony acidity whipping everything to a frothy fresh peak. This should evolve beautifully over the next decade but is quite lovely right now.

95 POINTS

Rebecca Gibb MW - Vinous

If the Field of Fire were a person, it wouldn't suffer fools gladly. The 2022 Chardonnay is a concentrated, direct and firm wine that knows where it's going and does so with a firm grip on your mouth. Focused, full of drive, it has sinew and sapidity. It is richly fruited - reminiscent of apricots alongside juicy lemon as well as toasted pine nuts, oats and flint. However, its quality is not in its flavors but its texture and power. Where I'm from, we say, 'Shy bairns got nowt' (a Scottish proverb that means: Shy children get nothing); and this isn't shy.

94 POINTS

James Suckling

The lemon blossom, lime and chalk character comes through nicely here with a medium to full body, hints of fresh lemongrass and dried grapefruit. Integrated phenolics. Zingy acidity.

94 POINTS

Erin Larkin - Robert Parker Wine Advocate

The 2022 Field Of Fire Chardonnay leads with an ultra pretty nose: white waxy flowers, lemon oil, sherbet, green soft leaf herbs and shaved fennel. In the mouth, the wine has considerable race and pace yet remains restrained and measured in its attack. This is a very smart wine; it's angular in all the right ways and complex to the end. 13% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.