Elephant Hill Salome Chardonnay

Elephant Hill set the bar pretty high when it comes to quality. That might be something to do with their German owners, Roger and Reydan Weiss, that spare no expense in running this state of the art winery located on the stunning Te Awanga coastline, and boasts one of the finest winery restaurants in NZ!

The Elephant Hill “Icon” range is the absolute pinnacle of wine making at Elephant Hill and only ever released in the greatest vintages. With their meticulous standards you know it has to be better than good, it has to be near damn perfect!

Salome is the name of the Chardonnay produced under their “Icon” range and this 2021 is only their sixth ever release of this label. Salome is an ancestor of the Weiss family tree, Maria Salome Ebner. If Maria was a Chardonnay drinking gal, boy would she of approved of this!

Produced using the very best fruit from their Te Awanga and Triangle vineyards and aged for 12 months in French oak. As you’d expect, it’s extremely posh stuff!

5 Stars, 95/100 (Bob Campbell MW)
“Deliciously drinkable now although the wine will benefit from 5 or 6 years in bottle if you prefer a seamless texture and greater complexity”

5 Stars (Michael Cooper)
“The outstanding 2021 vintage (5*) was estate-grown and hand-harvested at Te Awanga (80 per cent) and in the Bridge Pa Triangle (20 per cent), and fermented and matured for a year in French oak casks (40 per cent new). Bright, light lemon/green, it has a fragrant, complex bouquet. Mouthfilling, it has intense, vigorous, peachy flavours, seasoned with biscuity, slightly toasty oak, balanced acidity, and a long, savoury finish. A refined, structured wine with hidden depths, it’s still unfolding and well worth cellaring to mid-2025+.”

Salome is a cellar worthy Chardonnay for all fine wine snobs or wine lovers with deep pockets. You can expect this one to cellar well up to 2030 and beyond. Extremely limited stocks, secure your little piece of Hawke’s Bay wine history.