2025 Hoddles Creek Estate Chardonnay

An absolute unicorn of a Yarra Chardonnay that routinely embarrasses wines three times the price with its immaculate estate purity, freshness, and value.

Price:
Sale price$26.00
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In stock, ready to ship
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Description

For Yarra Valley Chardonnay fans, there is no better time of year than when the new Hoddles Creek estate release drops. Reams of praise have been written about Franco d’Anna’s unbelievable value for money, and honestly, it remains an absolute mystery how he keeps a wine of this calibre at under $30. It is all estate-grown, wild-fermented fruit that completely redefines what entry-level premium wine can be.  

The 2025 season handed him the earliest harvest in his twenty-five years at the property, but the team didn't panic. They scrambled early to capture the fruit with its natural crunch intact, and the payoff in the glass is immediate. It skips any heavy, sun-baked character, delivering a super fresh, mineral-driven white with exceptional drive and a sophisticated touch of French wood.  

It will easily evolve and improve with a bit of time in the dark, but it’s so delicious right now that keeping your hands off it is the real challenge.  A challenge we usually fail!  Simply one of the best buys in the country.

94 points
"It smells of pears and oyster shells; it tastes of nectarines, grapefruit, cedar-spice and mineral; it finishes with such an emphatic burst of fruit that its quality feels instantly upgraded. How or why this wine is only $26 I do not know."
- Gary Walsh (The Wine Front)

94 points - "It smells of pears and oyster shells; it tastes of nectarines, grapefruit, cedar-spice and mineral; it finishes with such an emphatic burst of fruit that its quality feels instantly upgraded. How or why this wine is only $26 I do not know. This release will need a bit of time in the bottle to really blossom but the power, structure, length and indeed X-factor place it in rare air once again." - Gary Walsh (The Wine Front)

Vintage

The 2025 season was the earliest on record after making wine at Hoddles for the last 25 years. We could see the season coming and were well prepared. We set up the vineyard with more protection from sun ensuring just enough sun exposure on bunches to soften phenolics and tannins. In the winery, we have upgraded our cooling and refridgeration so we could cool whole clusters before they made it into the press or tank. This has the benefit of maintaining finesse and freshness.

When harvest commenced, we knew it would be pretty quick and fast. We had more staff to cope with the onslaught. We started picking pretty early, knowing that we could catch our best fruit in the middle zone of ripeness. Once the dust settled, we had plenty of blending options to build the wine that we wanted. It’s not a season we want to see every year, but also welcome the challenge to see how we would cope.

Winemaking

All fruit is hand-picked in the morning and immediately de-stemmed and lightly crushed into the press. No enzymes are used; instead the juice is allowed to settle naturally. In 2023, there were approximately fifteen different ferments, these were allowed to start naturally on full solids. After a select period of time, some of the juice was inoculated with cultured yeast then transferred to wood for fermentation. The wine is then left on lees for approximately 11 months. Just before bottling all clones are blended, cold stabilized, fined and filtered.

Tasting Note

Citrus and stonefruit on the nose, this wine has a rounded palate with good length and acidity; a light touch of new oak adds complexity.

Price Bracket $30 or Less
Type White
Body Medium Bodied
Variety Chardonnay
Country Australia
Region Yarra Valley
Australian State VIC
Reviewed By The Wine Front
Critic Score 94
Alcohol 13%
Size 750ml
Vintage 2025
Closure Screw Cap

Hoddles Creek Estate

Hoddles Creek Estate lays a serious claim to being one of the best value producers in Australia.

Led by the extremely hardworking winemaking guru Franco D’Anna, the Hoddles team crafts wonderful Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in particular that seriously overdeliver at all price points.

The wines are all made from fruit grown on their family vineyard in the Upper Yarra Valley. A must-try for Yarra Valley fans and bargain hunters alike!

Winemaker Franco D'Anna - Yarra Valley, VIC Discover Hoddles Creek

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