Lake Chalice Plume Chardonnay

Plume’n hell! This is the NZ wine that’s just made international headlines in being recognised as one of just FOUR Kiwi wines to win a Platinum award at the world’s largest and most influential wine show, The 2023 Decanter World Wine Awards in London!

This single vineyard Marlborough Chardonnay, made with meticulous attention to details, made it BIG time on the international stage. It’s won 97/100 and a Platinum award at the DWWA which is an absolutely incredible achievement!

Winning Platinum at the DWWA is no easy road that’s for sure. After joining over 18,000 other wines they are then awarded Gold, Silver or Bronze –  the rest are shown the door! Then the best of the best go toe-to-toe to determine the Platinum award winners. Just 125 wines around the globe won Platinum – and just 4 were from NZ.

Or let’s put it another way – making the top 125 from over 18,000 is just 0.006% of all wines entered!

The judges at the DWWA 2023 were clearly blown away with this one – “Laden with quince, grapefruit, white peach and green apple aromatics underpinned by a vibrant mineral flintiness; taut and youthful with an energetic seam of acidity and a fine texture. Beautifully made with a complex finish.”

Using fruit from a single vineyard site in Marlborough’s Lower Waihopai Valley this is a Chardonnay that they say is “less work, more play.” Winemaker Chloe went on to say “We’ve selected only the very best barrels from within the batch. Each barrel adding a layer of complexity to the blend because we have so many components to choose from, adding different aspects of oak influence from the coopers, texture from oak or solids and flavour profile from the fermentations.”

With such huge domestic and international demand our recommendation would be to grab yourself a sneaky six pack (or two), enjoy a bottle (or two) now and cellar the rest until around 2027.