Description
The Salo Chardonnay is a collaboration between renowned winemakers Steve Flamsteed and Dave Mackintosh. As always, this wine hails from the Full Moon Vineyard in the cooler Gladysdale area of the Upper Yarra Valley. The vineyard's mature vines, rooted in rich, red volcanic soils, benefit from the site's higher elevation and cooler climate, resulting in a Chardonnay with exceptional flavour and tension.
In the winery, the approach is minimalistic yet thoughtful. The grapes are hand-picked and whole-bunch pressed into old, large-format oak barrels. Fermentation is driven by wild yeasts, it goes through full malo and even so, the finished wine is still decidedly fresh and nervy in style.
The 2023 vintage shows classic Salo reductive flint on the nose, lime and stone fruit aromas, alongside subtle notes of apple pie and toasted nuts. The palate is beautifully textured with a creamy oatmeal note, pristine racy acidity and beautiful texture. It's one of the most moreish Chardonnays in the Yarra Valley.
The last few vintages have sold out in short order as this wine has developed its own following. Just 244 dozen produced, so jump on this as soon as you can.
96 points
"From the Full Moon Vineyard in Gladysdale. Wild ferment and 100% mlf. There's only one wine from winemakers and friends Steve Flamsteed and Dave Mackintosh, and it's always a good 'un. A bright green gold. There's aromas of ripe stone fruits together with some savoury and complex briny notes. On the palate, this has lots of flavour and punch, finishing long with a refreshing touch of grip. Delicious now and over the next 4–6 years."
- Philip Rich (Halliday Wine Companion)94 points
"A quiet and gentle chardonnay of suppleness, creamy flow, soft citrus fruit characters, red apple sweet-sourness and a lick of almond, nougat and vanilla in the mix. An undertow of barely there but refreshing saline acidity does a nice trick too. This feels very even, subtle in its general sense and yet persists beautifully and with freshness with each sip. Classy, understated and delicious."
- Mike Bennie (The Wine Front)"The 2023 is the most balanced and delicious wine we’ve made."
- Steve Flamsteed
Customer Reviews
Salo
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Shipping
Delivery is free on orders of $150 or more!
For orders under this amount, delivery is calculated at checkout based on your postcode. You can order in any quantity or combination of wines you like. Straight dozens are not required.
We will dispatch your order the same or next business day.
Estimated delivery transit time varies depending on your location. Please review this page for specific estimates.
Sydney (Our Vans): If no one is home and there are no special delivery instructions our driver will try to call for instructions. If the driver believes there is a safe space to leave your wine they will do so if not, they will return the item to us and hold your order until further instruction from you.
Melbourne (Anonymous Wine Freight): If no one is home and there are no special delivery instructions, the courier will try to call for instructions. If the driver believes there is a safe space to leave your wine they will do so. if not, they will return the item to their dispatch centre and hold until further instruction from you.
Australia Post: Australia Post will leave the parcel if they have been given authority to leave and it is deemed safe to do so. To give your Authority to Leave, please enter this in the 'SPECIAL REQUEST' box at checkout.
Ordering
We want Different Drop customers to always be getting the best price. If you see a lower price elsewhere, just get in touch and we will sort it out for you. We handle all our price-matching on a case by case basis.
Some things to keep in mind:
- Retrospective price-matching is available for 30 days after you have purchased from us.
- The price match cannot be used in conjunction with a coupon or one-off deal we are offering. The idea is for you to get the best price in the market so if that is already achieved through a coupon then we won't price match on top of that.
- We don't price match clearance or fire sales.
- We’ll match the listed price as long as it is a legitimate offer and the competing store is actually able to fulfil the order (they have stock or more stock is en route). Essentially we won't price match cheeky vendors listing wines they have no hope of actually getting for you...
- It must be a publicly listed price. We won't match a price that has been achieved through a coupon/cash-back arrangement, or through a non-advertised offer over the phone or otherwise.
- It is limited to a reasonable retail quantity.
We'll treat each price match request on its merit and reserve the right to refuse where we deem fit. For example, particularly rare wines, from non-trust-worthy vendors, in circumstances we deem illegitimate or if we feel our policy is being unfairly taken advantage of.
At the end of the day, we'll look after you and use common sense to ensure you're getting the best price, please just don't take the p%$$!
No, feel free to mix it up! There is no minimum requirement. You can order wines in any quantity or combination, 1 or 50+ bottles.
We stock three different sized gift boxes (single, three bottle and six), all are available for purchase for a flat rate of $8. They look great and make an awesome impression.
To add a gift box to your order, simply add at checkout. The special requests box is your friend, please give us as many details of what you are looking for and we will try our best, or get in contact to discuss it with you.
If you want to bulk order gifts or if you have any trouble please email hello@differentdrop.com or call and we can try and help.
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