2025 Clonakilla Chardonnay

94 pts
Cool-climate Chardonnay from high-altitude Tumbarumba vineyards.

Price:
Sale price$49.00
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In stock, ready to ship
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Description

Tim Kirk's Chardonnay travels well beyond Clonakilla's home base at Murrumbateman. The fruit comes from the Johansen family vineyards in Tumbarumba, in the foothills of the Snowy Mountains at higher altitude and a more southerly latitude than the winery's main site. The result is a distinctly different character: precision, delicacy and cool-climate energy.

Warm days and cool nights let the grapes ripen slowly, building flavour while holding freshness and mineral acidity. Whole bunch pressed into French oak puncheons and barriques, fermented in barrel and matured on lees for 11 months without stirring. A final three months in tank before bottling.

Floral and citrus on the nose, grapefruit and meyer lemon, with fresh mineral acid framing the palate. The texture and length here are real, with subtle power behind the delicacy. Already delicious but clearly built to age, this is a delightful cool-climate Chardonnay.

94 points
"really good intensity and middle focus, energetic, and lingering long on the follow-through. Smart chardonnay, with a future."
- Huon Hooke (The Real Review)

94 points
"A wine of elegance, refinement and finesse, there is good intensity, which is maintained throughout, and impressive length. A superb Chardonnay from a cooler climate"
- Ken Gargett (Wine Pilot

94 points - "Medium yellow, bright. A reserved but very attractive nose of hazelnut, melon and bread crust, the palate rich and fleshy, soft and open-knit, but also with really good intensity and middle focus, energetic, and lingering long on the follow-through. Smart chardonnay, with a future." - Huon Hooke The Real Review)

94 points - "Tim Kirk goes beyond his home territory around Canberra to Tumbarumba to high altitude vineyards to source fruit for his Chardonnay. Whole bunch pressed into French oak puncheons and barriques for fermentation, the wine then spends eleven months on lees, without any stirring. A final three months in tank allows for full integration. 2025 was a fine vintage in the region. Deep yellow straw, this is a finely crafted style. The nose reveals aromas of peaches, jasmine, dry herbs and beautifully handled oak. A wine of elegance, refinement and finesse, there is good intensity, which is maintained throughout, and impressive length. A superb Chardonnay from a cooler climate, this can be enjoyed anytime over the next eight to ten years." - Ken Gargett (Wine Pilot)

93+ points - "Yes there’s flesh up front but this is characterised by its fine, long finish. Talk about age worthy; this wine will sing clearly for years. It tastes of nectarine, apple, wax, melon and cedar-cream, though the latter is polish at most. This wine comes across as cohesive and integrated but, even so, as an infant at most. A herb aspect, almost curry leaf-esque, leads the wine out through the cool length of the finish." - Campbell Mattinson (The Wine Front)

The fruit for our Chardonnay is sourced from the Johansen family vineyards in Tumbarumba, beautifully positioned in the foothills of the snowy mountains at a higher altitude and a more southerly latitude than our home base here at Murrumbateman.

The continental effect - warm days and cool nights - is accentuated in this climate, making it a perfect place to grow grapes which carry flavours and textures full of delicacy, precision and subtle power.

Floral notes and a touch of citrus, think grapefruit and meyer lemon, framed by fresh mineral acids, make for a deliciously fine drinking experience in a great vintage like 2025.

Barrel fermented and matured for 11 months in tight grained French oak, our 2025 Tumbarumba Chardonnay demonstrates the power of a classic variety working in compelling harmony with region and vintage.

Price Bracket $41 to $50
Type White
Body Medium Bodied
Variety Chardonnay
Country Australia
Region Tumbarumba
Australian State NSW
Reviewed By Wine Pilot
The Real Review
The Wine Front
Critic Score 94
Alcohol 13.5%
Size 750ml
Vintage 2025
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Clonakilla

Clonakilla is one of the true icons of the Australian wine scene. Since its inception, it has been one of the leading lights of the Australian cool climate wine insurgence.

They boast one of the most collectable wines in the country in their Shiraz Viognier, a wine of outstanding quality and consistency over the last two decades. Whether Shiraz, Riesling or otherwise, every wine in the Clonakilla stable are considered amongst the benchmark examples in Canberra District.

Quite simply, Tim Kirk and his family-owned estate are one of the true gems in the Australian wine industry crown.

Tim Kirk harvesting at Clonakilla Discover Clonakilla Wines

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