The name Florilegium—a synonym for 'anthology'—is derived from the Latin 'florilegus,' or 'flower collecting.' Originally, it described actual flower collections before evolving to name collections of the finest literary works. The perfect name for our flagship Chardonnay. Each vintage is a collection of the best individual barrels, with each release being another of our finest wines to add to our own florilegium. To bring the name’s meaning full circle, we go back to the beginning: when we harvest our Chardonnay, we are, quite literally ‘flower collecting’— gathering the final, elegant expression of the vine's tiny flowers.

95% of the blend is from a gentle slope in the lower Tukituki Valley, this area is close to the coast and relatively exposed to the cooling afternoon sea breeze making this the coolest and latest ripening of the three sub regions we source from. Soils are shallow clay loam over a hard calcified clay pan, resulting from limestone erosion. Whether it is this limestone influence, the cooling sea breeze or both, Chardonnay from this site is fragrant and elegant, yet never insubstantial. It is characterised by a wisp of flinty oystershell and a touch of briny salinity that conjures up a sense of the sea.

This is a vineyard I have worked closely with for many years. It is without a doubt, one of the best Chardonnay vineyards in New Zealand and we were delighted to secure a small allocation of fruit for our own wines from the top end of the block, mid slope between river to the west and the crest of the hill to the east. Here, topsoil gets shallower and whiter in colour with more clay content. It is very low porosity and holds tightly to water through capillary action, making it less available to vine, while the clay pan restricts root volume and increases inter-vine competition making this a naturally devigorating soil.

5% from a small block in the Bridge Pa Triangle, in the south west corner of the Heretaunga Plains, this low altitude inland area is well sheltered from the cooling afternoon sea breeze making this the warmest of the three sub regions we source from. Soils here are low fertility, free draining deep alluvial greywacke gravels, overlaid by a shallow topsoil of windblown loess and iron rich volcanic ash. The combination of climate and soil delivers wines with a subtle, rich aromatic profile , along with an underlying hot stone / ferrous minerality. The palate typically shows underlying power and complexity. It brings a touch of richness and structure to the finished blend.

2024 was an exceptional Chardonnay vintage in Hawke’s Bay, with warm sunny weather and regular summer rainfall events, the vines went into an extremely dry harvest season with healthy green canopies and good overall balance. Crops were naturally very low and this has translated to a natural underlying power in the wines. The warm growing season led to one of the earliest ever Chardonnay harvest in Hawke’s Bay and fruit was picked in pristine condition with vibrant flavours and fresh natural acidity.

Clone 1066 was harvested on the 26th of February at 22.1 brix. This is a relatively new clone to New Zealand that I refer to as the Uber-Mendoza, as it is even more susceptible than that famous clone, to hen and chicken (poor fruit set that results in many small, seedless berries, or chickens). The resulting meagre crop and high skin to juice ratio leads to full, flavourful wines, all kept in check by a taut line of natural acidity.

The first pick at the Tukituki valley block was the earlier ripening Dijon 95 clone at 20.3 brix on the 1st of March. This clone develops a ripe flavour spectrum and drops acidity ahead of accumulating sugar, and risks becoming overripe and flabby. However if picked on flavour and acid balance (rather than chasing sugar) it is capable of making beautifully elegant, subtle wines with underlying depth at modest alcohol levels. The last pick was the later ripening UCD clone 15 harvested at 22 brix on the 8th of March. Though not as much as 1066, it is still very susceptible to hen and chicken, particularly on this cooler site, where it produces zesty, aromatic wines with an excellent balance between concentration and structure.

Each parcel of fruit hand harvested and gently whole bunch pressed either to tank for overnight settling followed by racking and barrel filling the following day, or directly to barrel on full solids. No additions are made to the juice and every parcel is allowed to undergo spontaneous wild fermentation. Lees stirring is kept to a minimum, employed only to help the primary and malolactic fermentation to finish fully, after which time the barrels are fully sealed with a small sulphite addition and allowed to mature for a total of 11 months. Again this helps to preserve fruit freshness and sense of minerality, without any excessive heavy lees character.

After each individual barrel was evaluated for quality, we selected only the best for consideration for The Florilegium. The focus, to create something texturally and structurally complete and most importantly, eminently delicious! We are looking for balance of linearity and breadth, weight and structure, a fineness of texture with just enough grip, the focus is on the texture and shape of the wine on the palate. This is not a task we approach lightly. Laura and I started our blending session at 9am and finished at 11pm before resuming again for four hours the following day, fine tuning the exact proportion of each selected barrel. Once the blend was determined in the tasting room, the wine was racked in January 2025 and was allowed to mature further on light yeast lees in tank for 7 months. This was long enough to achieve natural clarity through settling only and wine was bottled without any fining, stabilisation or filtration. 20% new oak was used in the final blend.

• Average Vine age 13 years

• Vine spacing predominantly 1.5m x 2.7m

• Pruning two cane VSP

• Av yield 5.17 t/ha or 1.8 kg/vine

• Clonal selection 64% UCD 15, 31% Dijon 95, 4.5% 1066, 0.5% 548

• Oak: 228 L Burgundy barrels. 20% new, 17.5% third fill, 62.5% fourth fill

• Yeast: Wild

• MLF Bacteria: Wild

• Fining, stabilisation and filtration: None

• Alc 13.35%, TA 7.05 g/L, pH 3.25, RS 2.8g/L

• Closure: Diam Origine 30 49mm (wax sealed for reduced oxygen ingress). A technical cork made from cork particles that have been purged of impurities and bound with natural plant polymers and bees wax. TCA free and will perform consistently in every bottle for at least 30 years. In our trials to date they have out performed both natural cork and screw cap.