Dry River Chardonnay (2024)

The world famous Dry River are one of the pioneers of the New Zealand wine scene and quite rightly sit at the big boys table of New Zealand fine wine names.

Named after a historic sheep station a few kilometres down the road, Dry River was established in 1979 by visionaries Doctor Neil and Dawn McCallum. These guys were well ahead of the game when they planted their first vines on what is now known as the Martinborough Terraces. It’s a site known for its free draining gravels, cool maritime climate and (thanks to a bit of inside info from soil scientist and friend Dr Derek Milne) a 30 year record for the lowest rainfall in the North Island.

In 2003, Neil sold the winery to seriously wealthy Wall Street billionaire hedge fund manager and philanthropist Julian Robertson (according to Neil, ‘the guy who invented the hedge fund’ and one of the world’s super rich!). The aim remains the same though – to produce world class wines that age beautifully.

We’re super stoked to be able to land some extremely limited stocks of their 2024 Dry River Chardonnay. This would rank among Aotearoa’s finest Chardonnays – no argument about it and this is a special release – as winemaker Benjamin McNab said “A season of near perfection, 2024 was a vintage as close to flawless as I’ve encountered.”

Scoring 96/100 and a Top Rank Award  with The Real Review’s Stephen Wong who said “This is a modern, restrained yet powerful wine with excellent persistence and innate depth which will richly reward patience.”

World famous critic James Suckling went one better with a 97/100 score – “Extremely flinty, with aromas of oyster shells, lemons, sliced apples and hints of bread dough and lime zest. Medium-bodied with cooked apple and light lemon curd flavors. All the bells and whistles in this. Great wine. Best chardonnay ever from here.“

All bottles individually numbered, the Dry River crew recommend to allow this to age for at least three years from vintage.