2023 Eastern Peake Intrinsic Chardonnay
2023 Eastern Peake Intrinsic Chardonnay

2023 Eastern Peake Intrinsic Chardonnay

97 pts
Eastern Peake |Ballarat |Chardonnay
Gorgeous Chardonnay from Ballarat winemaking phenom, Owen Latta.
5.0
Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars
1 Review
Price:
$90.00
Stock:
Sold out
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Description

Owen Latta has a gift for Chardonnay that feels alive in the glass. The Intrinsic is drawn from the family’s high, windswept vineyard on volcanic soils at 430m - a site that delivers fruit with natural verve and edge.

In 2023, a tricky season kept Owen busy in the vines, but the payoff is a wine that hums with energy. Whole-bunch pressed and fermented with indigenous yeasts, then raised in old barrels of every size and shape (some 25 years old, none new), this is Chardonnay stripped of pretence. It’s all about purity, texture and vineyard character.

The flavours lean to citrus oil, white peach and crushed stone, with a savoury, nutty thread running underneath. There’s no oak heaviness, just a sense of tension and minerality wrapped in Owen’s signature balance of freshness and depth. It’s mouthwatering now, but there’s no doubt it will age gracefully over the next decade.

Like all his wines, the Intrinsic Chardonnay feels very personal - meticulous farming, hands-off winemaking, and a style that’s unmistakably Owen's own with a bit of funk and flint. In a world of polished Australian Chardonnay, this stands apart for its authenticity and character.

97 points
"I am in complete submission. A true bedazzling light in Australian Chardonnay, it has my heart and always will."
- Shanteh Wale (Wine Pilot)

Mike Bennie

Mike Bennie

The Wine Front 95 Points

This is a richer, opulent expression, and I think through recent chardonnay tastings and know that its bandwidth and tempo will be skittled in line ups for those with more filigree, tension and pace. That being said, merit here for concentration of fruit flavour, softness and beautiful, gently palate-staining flow, the harmony of honey butter, hazy, green apple juice, peachy notes, nougat, briny minerality and light toffee characters. By no means developing beyond its years, just relaxed and beautifully, neatly old fashioned in its way. A dapper chardonnay.

Tom Kline

Tom Kline

Wine Pilot 95 Points

The ‘Peake’ Chardonnay release, sourced from a 430m-altitude vineyard on volcanic grey loam over weathered basalt. Same winemaking approach as across the Chardonnay range: whole-bunch pressed, indigenous fermentation in 300L hogsheads, full solids, full malo. Opens with fine cedar spice, pear and Meyer lemon, followed by powdery yellow apple, yellow grapefruit and a flicker of flint. Chalk dust and riverstone minerality emerge with air, alongside honey butter and leesy dough notes. The palate mirrors the nose with weight, texture and precision. Spicy cedar supports, riverstone freshness glides through, and firm chalky phenolics carry persistent lemon-drenched acidity to a long, powdery close. Opulent yet fresh, with brilliant texture and length. The release that confirms Eastern Peake’s Chardonnay at its finest.

Shanteh Wale

Shanteh Wale

Wine Pilot 97 Points

Grown in volcanic loam soils over weathered basalt at 430m of altitude. Indigenous yeasts fermented in 300L hogsheads of French and Austrian oak on full solids. Full malo and additional time post ferment in stainless steel. Like scooping handfuls of lava ash, grass seed and lemon cream up to your face. Such is the mystic of Intrinsic, born and grown, this wine tells its story in careful hushed words, demanding you to lean forward and capture every breath. Honeycomb, pink salt flakes and bottle brush. It circles the palate with chiselled phenolics, melting moments of crumbly lemon shortbread. Acidity is so finite and graceful, I am in complete submission. A true bedazzling light in Australian Chardonnay, it has my heart and always will. This wine can do no wrong on a table with shellfish, creamy pastas, spatchcock or salty aged cheeses. Drink now and buy a dozen for the cellar and drink in 5,10, 15 years.

Customer Reviews

5.0
Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars
Based on 1 review
Total 5 star reviews: 1 Total 4 star reviews: 0 Total 3 star reviews: 0 Total 2 star reviews: 0 Total 1 star reviews: 0
1 review
  • GD Profile picture for Geoff De I.
    Geoff De I.
    Verified Buyer
    Wine Knowledge Level Enthusiast
    6 years ago
    Wine Knowledge Level Enthusiast
    Reviewing
    2021 Eastern Peake Intrinsic Chardonnay
    Rated 5 out of 5 stars
    ripper

    A very clean and interesting chardonnay. Orange peel with some smoke and flint smells going on and a nice toffee apple roundness in the mouth.

    Was this helpful?

Every year its such a pleasure to release the Intrinsic Chardonnay, like its predecessor, 2023 was also a very demanding growing season, we managed to keep on top of the challenging weather at each growth stage all the way up until nearly christmas when the weather finally settled into gear giving our site a beautiful finish, so many hours were spent keep the vines in pristine condition & I feel like this attention to detail strongly reflects in the wine. This is definitely one for enjoying right now but also one for the ages, a long youthful life ahead.



Nourished volcanic grey loam soils over weathered basalt sit on a high plateau at 430m altitude, this block of chardonnay was established in 1991 with Clone I10V5. Farmed with strict organic practices using a mix of regenerative cover crops increasing soil health & productivity in the vineyard, its been an absolute delight seeing the site react to all the thoughtful inputs, walking through the rows & feeling like the soil is alive with energy under foot transcending directly into each vine & the surrounds.



Harvested 6/4/23, whole bunch pressed, fermented with our naturally occurring indigenous yeasts in 300L hogs heads using a mix Siruge (French) & Stockinger (Austrian) cooperages, during élevage there is absolutely no racking, left on full solids with no interference with the lees, the wine always goes through full malolactic fermentation on its own, a small amount of sulphur post malo, racked from barrel to stainless tank where its left to rest for another full winter to gain complexity & naturally settle prior to bottling, no fining or filtering.



Our new chardonnay plantings across the domaine (clones Bernard 76 & some Penfolds 58) have been thriving over this growing season, with warmer than average temperatures. It’s quite amazing to see these new vineyard blocks taking shape on the estate after all these years, hopefully next year we might see our first crop.

Price Bracket $51 to $100
Type White
Body Full Bodied
Variety Chardonnay
Country Australia
Region Ballarat
Australian State VIC
Feature High Score
Reviewed By The Wine Front
Wine Pilot
Critic Score 97
Size 750ml
Vintage 2023
Closure DIAM Cork

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