{"product_id":"2025-salo-chardonnay","title":"2025 Salo Chardonnay","description":"\u003cp\u003eSteve Flamsteed and Dave Mackintosh have turned their Salo side project into one of the most consistently sought-after Chardonnay labels in the Yarra Valley. This is one of our favourite upper Yarra Chardonnays, year after year. If you see this on a wine list, it's an auto-order - IYKYK.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis 2025 release carries a bittersweet edge, marking their thirteenth and final vintage working with Simon Harte at the high-altitude Full Moon Vineyard in Gladysdale. Rooted in deep red and brown volcanic soils, these Upper Yarra vines thrived in a warm, dry season, yielding incredibly energetic fruit right before Harte makes the tough pivot to pull the vineyard entirely to run cattle on the land.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis wine is always made in basically the same way. After an overnight chill, hand-picked bunches are pressed and gravity-fed with full juice solids into 500-litre second- and third-use puncheons. It ferments wild, with half the barrels (2 out of 4) going through spontaneous malo to build texture, before being bottled unfined and just lightly filtered.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA bomb of citrus, a burst of preserved lemon, white flowers, and crushed macadamia, steely and sleek. The palate is electric and sharply focused, yet carries a gently creamy, melting weight before finishing dry, saline, and tense.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt’s a phenomenal swan song for a beloved Yarra site, built to drink beautifully over the next decade.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e96+ points\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Salo has another vineyard lined up for '26. In the meantime, this is an excellent way to go out... A lovely wine to drink now and over the next four to six years at least.\"\u003cbr\u003e- Philip Rich (Halliday Wine Companion)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e \u003cstrong\u003e96 points\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"“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... 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.\"\u003cbr\u003e- Campbell Mattinson\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg alt=\"Salo Full Moon Vineyard\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2572\/9722\/files\/SaloFullMoonVineyard_600x600.jpg?v=1694574964\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Salo","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44437635235883,"sku":"2025 Salo Chardonnay","price":55.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2572\/9722\/files\/2024SaloChardonnay.png?v=1757991870","url":"https:\/\/www.differentdrop.com\/products\/2025-salo-chardonnay","provider":"Different Drop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}