Cameron Douglas: The Landing Chardonnay 2024

The Landing Chardonnay 2024, Bay of Islands. RRP from $55.00  

If you’re heading to the Bay of Islands this summer, then I can highly recommend a day visit to The Landing. The land’s suitability for viticulture was long ago identified by the missionary Reverend Samuel Marsden. He established the first permanent European settlement in New Zealand, near where our vineyard now sits.    

The Landing takes its name from its history as a place where early Polynesian and European immigrants to Aotearoa New Zealand made landfall and built new lives in a new country. And as the home of the first community where European missionaries and indigenous Māori people lived together in New Zealand  

The wine: A delicious wine with the stamp of site written throughout the aromas and flavours; beginning with a clay and stone mineral idea then salty seaside suggestions laced with fresh apple and grapefruit, then ripe yellow stone fruits. The layer of wood spice and lees adds complexity and texture accentuated by the acid line. Weight and mouthfeel, tautness and freshness are excellent. A wine that can be enjoyed from day of purchase or cellared for at least a year.  

The season: The 2025 vintage delivered one of the most balanced and high-quality growing seasons in recent years. A warm, settled spring ensured even flowering and excellent fruit set. Moderate rainfall in December and January maintained healthy canopies, while dry, sunny weather from February through March enabled optimal ripening.   

The food match: Homemade fettuccini ribbons in a light cream sauce with toasted pine nuts, button mushrooms and pieces of roasted salmon. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack Tame podcast
from News Talks, ab.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Our Masters and Mallier. Cameron Douglas has chosen for his
wine of the week a chardonnay from the Landing A
twenty twenty four in the Bay of Islands, of course,
and Cameron is with us. Now go to Cameron, good.

Speaker 3 (00:23):
Morning, Good morning. What a beautiful day.

Speaker 2 (00:26):
Yeah it is. So why did you go with the
Landing chardon ey?

Speaker 3 (00:29):
Well, I was thinking it's this time of year when
we start thinking about gifts for Christmas, and I'm all
about the stories that you create through experiences and that's
as much as a gift as it is something like
a bottle of wine, or you can do both. And
I was thinking that if you find yourself up in

(00:50):
the Bay of Islands this summer time, then one place
that you must be on your bucket list is a
visit to the Landing. Not only is it great for
its viticulture and experience, just getting there alone is a
wonderful experience, but there's a great story and history behind
the actual site itself. It's where the first identifiable vineyard

(01:15):
in New Zealand was planted many many years ago. In
the eighteen hundreds. But it's also the place where the
first permanent European settlement in New Zealand began and where
the first community of European missionaries and indigenous Maori lived together.
And this is all part of the greater Land Area
and farming community that was established where the landing wines are.

(01:39):
So it's got a great story behind it already.

Speaker 2 (01:43):
It's like you say, a beautiful part of the country
as well. But tell us about the tell us about
the wine itself. What is the naming Chardonnay twenty twenty
four Taste Life.

Speaker 3 (01:53):
Yeah, it's well, the first word I always write down
with the wine that I like to talk about is delicious.
It's got a deliciousness to it. But it also has
this what I call an echo of place, and it's
where people talk about minerality, and for me, it has
this clay stone, mineral, salty seaside echo through the wine

(02:13):
and then this rush of chardenay characteristics of fresh apple
and grapefruit and right yellow stone fruit and then of
course a lot of chardonnais. Do like to have a
relationship with oak, in this case free choke, So there's
a nice little wood spice characteristic in there and what
I call Lee's ortolysis complexity. So there's a lot of

(02:35):
texture in this wine as well as core fruit flavors.
It's young, it's taught, it's lovely on its own all
with food.

Speaker 2 (02:43):
Oh nice. So what would you match it with?

Speaker 3 (02:47):
Well, shardenay can be enjoyed on its own. And if
I was going to suggest something that ticked the boxes
of a lot of different dietaries, I'm going with a
homemade fetichini dish. So make your own fettachini or buy
some ribbons, and then do it in a very very
light cream sauce, not a big, thick, heavy cream sauce,

(03:09):
just very very light, and make sure you toss in
some toasted pine nuts and button mushrooms. Then you add
the protein that you want. I like roasted salmon or
smoked salmon through my feather cheney, but you could do
turkey for this time of year, or you could leave
it completely vegetarian.

Speaker 2 (03:28):
Amazing. That sounds so good. Hey, thank you, Cameron. So
camera's picked for us this week is a twenty twenty
four Chardonay from the Landing in the Bay of Islands.
We'll make sure we've got all the details up on
the News talks 'db website.

Speaker 1 (03:40):
For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame. Listen live
to News talks 'DB from nine am Saturday, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio