NZ's priciest white wine bottled in Hawke's Bay

Clearview co-owner Tim Turvey, left, and chief winemaker Matt Kirby raise the first 2018 Endeavour Chardonnays off the line. Photo / Warren Buckland

As the corks went on to New Zealand's most expensive and highly acclaimed white wine, the smiles went on the faces of Clearview Estate Winery's chief winemaker Matt Kirby and co-owner Tim Turvey.

The 2018 Endeavour Chardonnay has been more than two years in the making, fermenting into remarkable flavours in what Turvey described as "the best French oak barrels we can find", and on Wednesday it was bottled.

It was just the eighth Endeavour Chardonnay to have been produced by Clearview over the past 30 years, as it is only produced when the vintage is a great one — and the 2018 vintage was very much that.

So was the 2019 vintage, which meant for the first time there would likely be two Endeavours in a row, Kirby said.

"The wine epitomises all the reasons why we planted and started making Endeavour nearly 30 years ago," Turvey said.

"It has intensity, balance and flavour with a structure that has audacity, with freshness and complexity."

So for him and Kirby Wednesday was a long-awaited day, for what they watched being carefully bottled was more than just another style or vintage.

"To make a wine such as this is something I really look forward to... it is my special baby."

The grapes were from 30-year-old vines and the fermentation time in the special barrels was much longer than normal.

The result is a wine which has continually gathered up top awards and accolades, and has created a "must have" stance with a large number of wine enthusiasts and wine investors, and those who simply want to taste something special, and brush aside the $195 a bottle price.

There is also a touch of patience involved here as it is a wine which needs to age further to deliver its absolute best - preferably up to 10 years, while with top cellaring it will develop up to 20 years.

"It's all hand crafted — velvet gloves material," Kirby said with a smile.

Through the whole growing, picking and production process a small artisan team works with great care, and that continues to the specialised bottling, where the bottles are corked with those tops then red-waxed for sealing.

"All part of the hand-crafting," Kirby said.

Turvey said the 2018 Endeavour was now available, and like the previous releases is a strictly limited edition.

The orders were arriving even before bottling started.