2025 Foreign Friends Black Springs Chardonnay

96 pts
Just 1,052 bottles of a future Beechworth classic from the girls behind Foreign Friends, a young producer on the rise.

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Sale price$79.00
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Description

Foreign Friends is a name to know if you love Beechworth Chardonnay. It’s early days for the label, but this Black Springs release has the makings of a future classic.

Behind it are sisters Leila and Crystal Davis and their French friend Juliette Menneteau, who launched Foreign Friends in 2023 after meeting in Beechworth. Leila handles the winemaking, with experience at Domenica and Sorrenberg, plus vintages in France.

Black Springs sits at 500 metres on decomposed granite, and 2025 was their second full year looking after the vines themselves. The fruit was hand picked, basket pressed and barrel fermented, then given 18 months on fine lees with gentle stirring and 25% new oak.

It’s a generous, impactful Chardonnay, with peach, lemon and roasted almond, plus a savoury edge that keeps you coming back. There’s plenty of texture, backed by bright acidity and a long, dry finish.

Only 1,052 bottles were made so it's a tiny production. Grab a bottle and get behind an exciting young Beechworth producer!

96 points
"There’s no denying the richness and concentration in this wine ... It all comes together in grace and power. Great stuff."
- Kasia Sobiesiak (The Wine Front)

95 points
"A vibrant, striking wine that reaffirms the young producer's rising-star status."
- Jeni Port (Halliday Wine Companion)

96 points - "By popular demand and courtesy of some good people, this Chardonnay is back on my tasting bench. Thank you for sharing the sample. The pleasure is all mine. There’s no denying the richness and concentration in this wine. And the length. In fact, this wine has a long finish as a starting point. It’s a loop, really. First sip, long finish, next sip. And on we go. Apples, peaches, cashews and toasted oats. This is a pretty solid base and the definition of this wine. Plenty of fruit, but with no tropical sunshine here, sweetness of ripeness—yes, but very much a savoury drive and a dry tail end. Then comes the sprinkle, the topping, the cherry on top—apple tart, custard powder, milk bottle lolly, cinnamon. Yes, all things we love and drool over. There’s a refreshing hint of mint and crushed fennel lingering too. It all comes together in grace and power. Great stuff." - Kasia Sobiesiak (The Wine Front)

95 points - "Hand picked, basket pressed, barrel fermented, aged on fine lees for 18 months (25% new oak). A vibrant, striking wine that reaffirms the young producer's rising-star status. Combines the luscious with the lightly savoury in aromas and flavours rich in summer stone fruits, honeyed almonds, preserved lemon and honeysuckle florals. Lemon curd and woody, spiced oak notes filter through across the palate in line with a brisk acidity, finishing tight and clean. This has a youthful complexity that should reward further ageing." - Jeni Port (Halliday Wine Companion)

Harvest: Picked February 09
Vineyard: Black Springs, Beechworth-Wangaratta Road, VIC, 3747
Terroir: Decomposed Granite
Elevation: 500m
Bottles: 1052
Grower Notes: 2025 was the 8th vintage of Chardonnay from Black Springs, our second full year of managing the vineyard. It was a beautiful growing season with mild-warm temperatures and low rainfall. The result is exciting, with the Chardonnay showing lots of structure and delicate finesse. We can't wait to share this wine with you.
Winemaking Notes: Hand picked, basket pressed and barrel fermented. Aged on fine lees for 18 months with light bâtonnage in 25% new oak.
Tasting Notes: Lemon and stone-fruit notes with almond and hazelnut notes from the lees work. A beautiful chamomile nose. On the palate there's really nice acidity with flinty minerality, lemon curd aromas and a long finish. Lots of structure and layered texture from the long ageing.

Price Bracket $51 to $100
Type White
Body Full Bodied
Variety Chardonnay
Country Australia
Region Beechworth
Australian State VIC
Reviewed By Halliday Wine Companion
The Wine Front
Critic Score 96
Alcohol 13%
Size 750ml
Vintage 2025
Closure DIAM Cork

Foreign Friends

Foreign Friends is a Beechworth project that started as a side hustle between three mates: sisters Leila and Crystal Davis, and their friend Juliette Menneteau. They’ve been part of the local wine scene in Beechworth for about a decade but only officially launched the label in 2023.

The business is a proper team effort with Leila handling the winemaking and grape-growing, Crystal running the marketing and branding, and Juliette looking after sales and distribution.  

Leila’s background is about as Beechworth as it gets. She’s Rick Kinzbrunner’s great-grand-niece (Giaconda) and cut her teeth in the cellar with her uncle Pete Graham at Domenica and in the vineyard learning the farming with Barry Morey at Sorrenberg before heading overseas to work in the Jura and Beaujolais at Domaine Courbet and with Mee Godard. Not a bad crew of mentors to start you in the right direction! 

While they’ve been buying fruit from the King and Yarra Valleys to get moving, the project is becoming more Beechworth-centric. Leila is now farming the Blacksprings vineyard, and they have a home block of Chardonnay and Nebbiolo coming online soon. It’s a "watch this space" situation as they move toward estate-grown fruit. 

We really enjoyed each and every one of their current releases. Liela's clearly a talent to watch and one of the best young, emerging winemakers in Victoria. They are serious yet smashable, they look great, and each is wonderfully, distinctively varietal. We’ve put a four-pack together of our favourites if you want to see what this trio is all about. 

Leila, Crystal and Juliette from Foreign Friends Foreigh Friends

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