96+ points - "From the Full Moon vineyard in Gladysdale, which, sadly (and in a sign of the times), has been pulled out by the owner. Salo has another vineyard lined up for '26. In the meantime, this is an excellent way to go out. Brightly coloured with aromas of nectarine kernel, citrus peel, flint and light marine scents. There's a gentle creaminess on the well-weighted palate that finishes chalky, tensile and long. A lovely wine to drink now and over the next four to six years at least." - Philip Rich (Halliday Wine Companion)

96 points - "Salo Chardonnay is a side project of noted winemakers Steve Flamsteed and Dave Mackintosh. It’s been going for 17 years, with most of the wines produced from the Full Moon Vineyard at Gladysdale in the Upper Yarra Valley. I’m not sure where this 2025 release was grown but it’s the same elite quality. “Side project” sounds both cool and dismissive; this is not a wine to be dismissed.

I fell for this wine from the first sip. It’s so right that I’m almost lost for words, or for the appropriate ones. It’s mellifluous, first and foremost, in the most beautiful of ways. It tastes of white peach, cream, preserved lemons, honeysuckle and lactose, though everything comes at you as one harmonious stream. I will no doubt rate wines higher, but I can’t imagine a wine that I would more like to drink. This wine is pure, liquid gorgeousness." - Campbell Mattinson

2025 YARRA VALLEY CHARDONNAY

2025 marks our thirteenth year working with Simon Harte at the Full Moon Vineyard high up in the Southern Hills. Deep roots have taken hold in the red and brown coloured volcanic soils in Gladysdale, allowing these vines to have the resilience to withstand all conditions while giving plenty of energy to the final wine. The higher altitude results in a cooler and longer growing season, ideally suited to Chardonnay where we are harvesting generally 2-3 weeks later than the lower Yarra.

Simon has meticulously tended to these vines over the last twenty something years, but has made the tough decision to remove the vineyard and transform his farm to run cattle.

It has been an epic partnership and the 2025 season has delivered a really classic upper Yarra Valley style, a wine that will age beautifully over the next 10 years.



Vintage:

The 2025 season was a dream year! It began with above-average winter rainfall, building strong soil moisture for spring. Warm, dry conditions encouraged early growth, kept disease pressure low and supported healthy canopies. Summer remained warm and dry, bringing harvest forward a little, but the conditions delivered a very high-quality vintage. The fruit was picked in excellent condition, producing a wine with vibrant acidity, phenolic balance, depth of flavour and the structure to age beautifully.

Winemaking:

Hand Picked fruit was chilled in the cold room overnight and then whole bunch pressed to a small tank high in the winery. The tank is then rummaged and run to 500 Litre (all second and third use) puncheons by gravity with full juice solids.

Wild fermentation finished in late March and the wine was lightly sulphured a few months later. 50 % of the wine (2 x barrels) went through a spontaneous malolactic fermentation and this helps to build mid palate weight and complexity. A small sulphur add was made a few months after MLF completion.

No stirring, unfined and bottled with a coarse filtration in early December 2025.

13.0% alcohol 3.28 pH Vegan friendly.