Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, #209 2013, Lisa Perotti-Brown

91+ points

“The 2011 Aurulent Chardonnay offers a promising nose of ripe apricots, muskmelons and honeycomb with suggestions of cedar and toasted almonds. Medium-bodied with a lovely silkiness to the texture, it fills the mouth with honeyed stone fruit and toasty flavors enlivened by a refreshing acid backbone and long finish laced with just a hint of oakiness. Drinking nicely now, it should cellar to 2016+. ”

Raymond Chan Wine Reviews, August 2013, Raymond Chan

18/20

“Aurulent is ‘the colour of gold’. Chardonnay fruit from sites with medium to heavy silt soils. Fully barrel-fermented in new and seasoned oak to 13.5% alc., the wine aged 12 months on lees with 100% MLF. Bright straw-colour with light, lemon-gold hues. This has an elegant and tight bouquet of ripe citrus and stone fruit aromas with mealy, nutty notes and very subtle butterscotch MLF and creamy barrel-ferment elements that build in intensity. Medium-full bodied, finely concentrated citrus stone fruit and nutty flavours feature on a soft-textured palate with rounded mouthfeel. An amalgam of barrel-ferment and MLF creaminess is balanced by good underlying acidity that provides tension, and the flavours are driven to a very long and sustained nutty nuanced finish. This is an elegantly creamy, subtly concentrated chardonnay with nutty, stone fruit flavours and a long finish. Serve with roasted poultry and pork dishes over the next 4-5 years.”

Buyers Guide to New Zealand Wines, 2013 Edition, Michael Cooper

4 stars

“Already drinking well, the debut 2011 vintage was hand-picked at ‘select vineyard sites’ in Hawkes Bay and fermented and lees-aged for a year in new and older French oak barrels, with full malolactic fermentation. Pale yellow, it is full-bodied and crisp, fleshy and generous, with strong, peachy, citrusy, slightly toasty flavours, woven with fresh acidity. Drink now or cellar.”