"Light golden-yellow colour with some depth, paler on the rim. The nose is softly presented with very refined but intense and well-concentrated aromas of white and yellow stonefruits entwined with a complex amalgam of white florals, subtle notes of gunflint reduction and nutty oak. This is very elegant and shows finesse. Medium-full bodied, the palate is finely proportioned with good depth and intensity of well-concentrated white and yellow stonefruits along with hints of citrus fruits, integrated with a layer of nutty oak and restrained gunflint notes. The flavours form a fine and firm core, and the mouthfeel is enlivened by piquant, lacy acidity. This has good linearity and the flavours carry to a long finish of stonefruit, nuts and flint. This is an intensely concentrated, but refined Chardonnay with complex stonefruit, nutty and flint flavours on a firm palate with fresh acidity. Match with seafood and poultry over the next 5 years. Chardonnay fruit from elevated sites with the volcanic-influenced ‘Stony Batter’ clay loam soil, foot-maceration of whole bunches and fully indigenous yeast barrel-fermented to 13.5% alc., the wine aged 11 months in 25% new French oak puncheons with no batonnage and no MLF" Raymond Chan, May 2018

"Quite an intense, almost syrupy chardonnay with root ginger, honey, ripe peach, tropical fruits and nutty, spicy characters. Quite a big, weighty wine in a very accessible style. Just a tad too unctuous. Drink 2018 to 2022" Bob Campbell, Master of Wine, Real Review, Aug 2018

The 2017 Valkyrie is very much like biting into a nectarine plucked freshly from the tree, fresh and crunchy with slightly more obvious acidity and tannin than say fruit purchased from a store. There is fresh juicy peachy flavours in the wine but also a pleasant herbal note of ‘just ripe’ stone fruits which comes through in both its texture and structure. 

Valkyrie Chardonnay represents a desire to produce a wine made exclusively from vineyards planted in a soil type unique to Man O’ War called the Stony Batter clay loam. These are a distinct volcanic influenced soil found only on the central elevated parts of the Man O’ War property. These sites are not only influenced by their soil but also their elevation, aspect and exposure to cooling maritime winds making for a distinctive expression of Chardonnay.

Drawing from their experience in making Chardonnay we hoped to combine the best of our techniques to represent the unique terroir of these sites. The winemaker found that a gentle maceration of the whole bunches with our feet before pressing increases the amount of grape solids in the juice which we then separate from the heavy sediment resulting in a finer type of tannin in the wine. The juice is fermented in barrel with wild yeasts and when fermentation is finished we add small amounts of sulphur at each topping to preserve the freshness and fruitfulness of the wine. They do not stir the lees or allow the wine to go through malolactic fermentation.

Food Pairing: This is a wine that perfectly suits raw seafood especially oysters as well as richer types such as seared scallops or poached crayfish or classic fish n’ chips. Equally suited for simple pasta dishes or roasted white meats and poultry.