Novum Riverbrook Vineyard Chardonnay 2024 comes from Marlborough's Southern Valleys, a warmer, clay-based pocket of the region increasingly recognised for serious chardonnay and pinot noir. This single-vineyard release shows real precision and savoury detail, the site's character coming through clearly in the glass rather than being smoothed over.

White peach and grapefruit lead the nose, with a flinty, mineral edge underneath and a faint hint of brioche. The palate is layered and textural, stone fruit carrying through a creamy mid-palate without losing definition or focus.

Acidity runs bright and well-integrated, giving the wine real tension despite its textural richness, and the finish is long, savoury and lightly nutty, with citrus lingering at the very end of a long finish.

Pair it with roast chicken, pan-seared fish in butter, or a mushroom risotto — dishes with enough richness to meet the wine's texture, rather than anything too light or simple, given the wine's textural weight.

It is drinking well now with room to develop further over the next three to five years.