Lawsons Dry Hills Reserve Chardonnay

Ross and Barbara Lawson first planted their family vineyard in 1982, launching the Lawson’s Dry Hills label ten years later. These days Lawsons are part of a bigger (and very prestigious) family – The Family of Twelve.

Twelve of NZ’s most iconic, successful wineries that share information, ideas and even the odd secret or two. The top brass of NZ wineries sit round this table – Villa Maria, Kumeu River, Millton, Craggy Range, Ata Rangi, Palliser Estate, Neudorf, Nautilus, Fromm, Pegasus Bay, Felton Road and Lawsons.

Lawsons certainly have plenty to share around that family table with massive success over the past 25 years. In their own words and not wanting to brag (but rightly bragging just a little bit) “We have lost count of all our gold medals – the certificates cover the walls in our cellar door while the shelves are buckling with the weight of all our trophies.”.

This is Lawson’s Reserve label 2023 Chardonnay. That means it’s the slightly flasher stuff. How so? Well, they start with their very best Chardonnay fruit that’s hand harvested, whole bunch pressed before full malolactic fermentation in French oak (22% of it being expensive new oak!).

It’s backed by some seriously good gongs and summed up nicely in their own words – “A rich and full-flavoured wine that offers a perfect balance of concentrated, ripe fruit and toasty French oak…This is a wine that you won’t want to miss out on!”