Chardonnay 2018

DOG POINT VINEYARD

Chardonnay
2018

  • Organic
  • Vegan
Country
New Zealand
Regulated designation
Table wine
Region
South Island
Subregion
Marlborough
Varietal(s)
Chardonnay 100 %
Colour
White
Producer's website
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About this winery

Dog Point Vineyard is one of the oldest privately established vineyards in Marlborough. Established in 2002 by partners, Ivan & Margaret Sutherland, and James & Wendy Healy. After working together at Cloudy Bay, Ivan and James decided to return to a more hands-on approach and establish their own wine label. Dog Point Vineyard is located at the confluence of the Brancott and Omaka Valleys in Marlborough, New Zealand’s premium wine growing region. The name “Dog Point” dates from earliest...

See the DOG POINT VINEYARD detail page for more information on this brand

Product notes

2/3 Mendoza, 1/3 B95 clones hand-picked from the estate vineyard at 5 tonnes/ha (30hl/ha), from vines dating back to 1981.

Production notes

The fruit is whole bunch pressed and transferred directly to French oak barrels (10% new) and left to undergo indigenous primary and secondary malolactic fermentations for 18 months in barrel. Bottled without fining and with only minimal filtration.

Tasting notes

A pure, bright and youthful citrus driven chardonnay with complex smokey, flint, toast and biscuit notes derived from extended barrel aging on full solids. The hallmarks of Dog Point chardonnay are ever present here with pure saline and crisp palate structure. This vintage will have the ability to age well. Perfect match with scallops, white fish, poultry and BBQ pork.

Press reviews

James Halliday (Australian Wine Companion)

- 96 points -

July 2025 (Vintage 2022)

Some enticing theatre popcorn, sparkler flint and lemon candies. Peach pit meets yellow plums and buttered crumpets. Subtle walnut skin and powdered nutmeg. Where some chardonnays may be released too early or late, the release timing of Dog Point is always premeditated and this is in a very sweet spot. It's a wealth of lemon skin zest, squeezed pineapple slices and the fine sandpaper texture that has you reaching for a lobster trap. This also has the ability to be a bit of a chameleon, adapting well to fatty fried foods and sharp cheese equally well. A stellar vintage of their iconic chardonnay.

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James Suckling

- 95 points -

October 2021

Smoke, hay, dried mango, preserved lemon and buttered toast on the nose. Full-bodied with sharp acidity and a phenolic texture. Tight, concentrated and long.

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James Suckling

- 94 points -

October 2020

A complex chardonnay with guava, lime and lightly grilled-peach aromas, as well as flint and toasted hazelnut. The palate has an impressively taut and concentrated feel with praline, hazelnut, peach and lemon flavors all intertwined. Good depth here.

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Wine Spectator

- 94 points -

July 2023 (Vintage 2020)

Succulent and mouthwatering, with a snappy mix of lemon curd, lemon blossom and flint elements. Shows more nuanced notes of salted butterscotch, brioche and litsea oil that linger in the background, while the fresh, vibrant acidity is sleek on the finish, providing focus and length.

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Wine Advocate

- 94 points -

November 2023 (Vintage 2020)

The 2020 Chardonnay is reductive and flinty on the nose and leads with lashings of crushed nuts, curry leaf, cap gun, yellow flesh peach, salted apples and brine. In the mouth, the wine is mouthfilling and bony in the very best of ways, with rich fruit that provides a chorus through the finish. Is it so reductive and worked that it will polarize? Possibly. Probably. Do I love it? Yes. Horses for courses. This is classy wine with lots to touch and feel. I bet it ages well, too. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

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James Suckling

- 94 points -

November 2023 (Vintage 2021)

Aromas of Meyer lemon, yellow apple and acacia followed by sea shell, cheese rind and a hint of hay and button mushroom. Medium-bodied, refreshing acidity. Zesty layers with fascinating complexity

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James Suckling

- 94 points -

September 2022 (Vintage 2020)

Inviting aromas of flint, matchstick, grated nutmeg, dried lemon rind and sliced grapefruit. Medium-bodied with silky texture. Fresh and bright fruit turns more savory with herbs and spice coming to the forefront. Layered. Tannic, tight finish. From organically grown grapes. 

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James Suckling

- 94 points -

November 2024 (Vintage 2022)

Very beautiful with sliced cooked apples, pie crust, dried Meyer lemons and lemon curd. Hints of flint. Full-bodied and layered, this has pretty phenolic tension and a flavorful, tangy finish. A complete and balanced Chardonnay. Two-thirds Mendoza clone (Wente). Average vine age is 30 years old. From organically grown grapes.

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Wine Enthusiast

- 93 points -

January 2024 (Vintage 2021)

Subtle struck match and grilled nut aromas perch just above the lemon and toast aromas without overpowering them; a salty, seashell vibe is present too. There’s a vibrant, citrusy acidity pulsing to a long finish.

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Wine Spectator

- 93 points -

March 2021 (Vintage 2018)

Rich and toasty upfront, with hazelnut, nutmeg and cardamom details that mingle with peach, poached pear and green apple flavors and a hint of gunpowder tea on a supple and juicy frame.

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Vinous

- 93 points -

March 2022 (Vintage 2019)

The 2019 Dog Point is one hell of a mouthful of a Chardonnay with its full-bodied, concentrated, vanilla-infused core, offering density and richness of white stone fruit and oak-derived grilled nut and bacon flavors. It would be difficult to call this wine subtle, but what it lacks in demureness, it makes up for in impressiveness. Hailing from Marlborough, its volume is kept in check by natural acidity, creating a fine, precise and lengthy finish. 

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Vinous

- 90 points -

April 2024 (Vintage 2021)

The 2021 Chardonnay is a punchy little number with vim and vigour. It offers sweetness of fruit that comes with a bracing, bright, citrus like acidity creating firmness on the finish. This results in croissant like characters alongside sweet white stone fruit and citrus flavours.

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Wine Advocate

94+ Points

Erin Larkin, June 2025 (Vintage 2022)

The 2022 Chardonnay leads with chamomile and yellow fruits, candlewax and forest floor. This is quite a beguiling wine to smell; it leads me down a path of white miso, white pepper and caper brine. This is an excellent wine, and having enjoyed (a few) glasses of the 2015 Chardonnay last night, it is clear the wine ages gracefully and with ease. This will be excellent now or over the next decade or two. Your call. 

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