Description
If you want to experience the best Chardonnay Australia has to offer, then this pack is where it’s at.
The included wines come from six of Australia's most esteemed producers of Chardonnay. These wines mostly sell out on release each year, but we’ve squirrelled away a few precious bottles for the sake of this mixed pack.
This is without question the best mixed pack of Chardonnay you will find in this country. With only a handful available, get in and add these rare gems to your collection while you can!
- 2022 Giaconda Estate Vineyard Chardonnay
- 2023 Cullen Kevin John Chardonnay
- 2021 Oakridge 864 Funder & Diamond Drive Block Chardonnay
- 2021 Leeuwin Art Series Chardonnay
- 2023 Giant Steps Bastard Hill Vineyard Chardonnay
- 2022 Place of Changing Winds Larderdark Chardonnay
2022 Giaconda Estate Vineyard Chardonnay
The famed Giaconda Chardonnay is one of the great wines of Australia.
Grown by the iconic Rick Kinzbrunner on the hallowed slopes on the outskirts of Beechworth township, this wine has carved out a unique place for itself in Australian wine.
Notable for its extraordinary power and ageing potential, it has long been held up as a bastion of quality Australian Chardonnay to the rest of the world. It is made in limited amounts and sells out without fail each and every year.
Always a hotly anticipated release. Allocations are extremely limited. If you want it for your cellar, you'll have to act quick.
99 points
"An utterly beguiling wine of deep complexity and stunning freshness... Filigree fine acidity brings a crystal clarity and freshness. A chardonnay masterclass from the masters."
- Jeni Port (Halliday Wine Companion)
98 points
"It is in the mouth that the pedigree of the wine comes to the fore. The chalky texture and the penetrating intensity of flavor in combination are what make this wine so great, as I see it, and the 2022 vintage provides a gentle framework within which the wine exists. This is a gorgeous, elegant, precise and detailed release of this magnificent wine. "
- Erin Larkin (The Wine Advocate)
97+ points
"This is such a powerful wine... Such concentration and vigour. It’s pretty much unlike most Australian Chardonnay wines, because it’s just so bold and commanding. Insane. It’s quite something."
- Gary Walsh (The Wine Front)
2023 Cullen Kevin John Chardonnay
The Cullen Kevin John Chardonnay sits comfortably amongst the pantheon of Margaret River's finest Chardonnays.
Vanya Cullen's unrelenting quest for winemaking excellence is beautifully realised in this ode to her late father, Dr. Kevin John Cullen. The man's passion for Margaret River Chardonnay was legendary and this wine surely does him proud.
The fruit is hand picked exclusively on fruit days (the days of the biodynamic cycle which optimise fruit flavour) from the immaculate four decade old vineyard tended by the Cullen family. This is a wine of immense power and precision and stands as a constant reminder of the potential of Australian Chardonnay. The Cullen Kevin John sits at the apex of Australian Chardonnay and would make a fine addition to any serious cellar.
97 points
"I like this very much, the intensity dial turned down a notch, and there is an even flow of fruit-weight and freshness, with a curb of well-placed phenolics... An excellent Kevin John. From biodynamically grown grapes."
- Ned Goodwin MW (James Suckling)
96 points
"It’s a powerful expression of Wilyabrup Chardonnay, intense in acidity and flavour, it has spice and plenty of grip, lime nougat, a milk powder richness, and a bold finish of excellent length. Positively dripping with golden flavour and energy, but so very good."
- Gary Walsh (The Wine Front)
96 points
"A rich, generous and quite open-knit style of chardonnay that's already drinking well." - Huon Hooke (The Real Review)
2021 Oakridge 864 Funder & Diamond Drive Block Chardonnay
The Oakridge 864 Funder & Diamond Drive Block Chardonnay is one of the giants of Australian Chardonnay.
Crafted by one of the country's most gifted makers of the variety, this single-block wine is considered by many as a benchmark wine for the region. The 2021 vintage is characterised by coiled power and intensity. It shows powerful fruit which is beautifully framed by trimmings of fine French oak and some savoury lees character.
Complexity tempered with an easy approachability. It's a wine to behold This is an excellent release of this much-revered icon of the Yarra Valley.
98 points
"This might just be the best and possibly the most long-lived Oakridge 864 Chardonnay yet."
- Philip Rich (Halliday Wine Companion)
2021 Leeuwin Art Series Chardonnay
This is arguably Australia's most iconic Chardonnay.
For decades Leeuwin Art Series has been the gold standard of Aussie Chardonnay, considered by many as one of the few Australian 'Grand Cru' Chardonnays that can go toe-to-toe with the best of Burgundy and beyond.
The wine is fermented and aged in 100% new French oak of the highest quality. The power and intensity of the fruit is an easy match for the new oak, invariably finding balance and even finesse where most Chardonnays would be overpowered.
The Leeuwin Art Series is a wine for when only the very best will do.
98 points
"Superb vitality and balance. It promises to reward cellaring too. Tremendously concentrated and compact, with extreme drive and massive persistence, it positively vibrates with energy."
- Huon Hooke (The Real Review)
97 points
"Gee, this is good wine. It ripples through the mouth like a flat white stone pitched across a cool lake. That’s an image for you, and I’ll leave you with that." -
Gary Walsh (The Wine Front)
97 points
"The oak is superbly integrated, and pure acidity leads this to a persistent finish. Impressive as always."
- Jane Faulkner (Halliday Wine Companion)
2023 Giant Steps Bastard Hill Vineyard Chardonnay
Halliday Wine Companion's Winery of the Year!
"Giant Steps, right now, breathes rare air. It’s been an outstanding winery for a long time, but the combination of energy and expertise – and no doubt plenty more besides – that winemaker Melanie Chester has brought since she arrived at the winery in November 2021 has frankly been breathtaking... In short, it’s a thrilling range to drink from."
- Campbell Mattinson (Halliday Wine Companion)
The Giant Steps Bastard Hill Vineyard Chardonnay is a notable new addition to the Giant Steps single vineyard range, with 2023 being the first release under the leadership of winemaker Mel Chester.
Planted by the legendary Ray Guerin in 1986, this site in Gladysdale sits at elevations between 300 and 400 metres, providing a cool climate and volcanic loam soils that are perfect for producing Chardonnay of exceptional purity and focus. Acquired by Giant Steps in 2022, Bastard Hill has long been celebrated as one of Australia’s great Chardonnay sites, initially producing high-quality sparkling wine and later becoming renowned for its still wines.
The 2023 vintage was marked by cool temperatures and a late harvest, allowing for excellent fruit concentration and natural acidity. The Chardonnay grapes, characterised by small bunches, were handpicked and whole-bunch pressed. Fermentation took place in 500L French oak puncheons, with 25% undergoing malolactic fermentation. The wine was matured for nine months in a combination of second-use and seasoned oak, adding complexity without overwhelming the fruit's inherent character.
This Chardonnay offers an enticing bouquet of nashi pear, pink grapefruit, crushed rock, and a hint of honeysuckle. On the palate, it is incisive and chalky, with flavours of lemon, pear, and a whisper of sea spray. The wine balances concentrated intensity with a gentle creaminess, showcasing its potential to age gracefully.
Giant Steps continue to push the boundaries of what's possible with Yarra Valley Chardonnay, and this new wine further enhances their reputation as one of the region's, and country's, finest producers.
98 points
"This is its first wine from the vineyard. And what a wine it is! A brilliant and pure scented bouquet of nashi, pink grapefruit, crushed rock, sea spray and honeysuckle. There's a hint of fresh honeycomb, too. Incisive, pure and chalky on the palate, this concentrated yet light on its feet wine is reminiscent of good Corton-Charlemagne. That it will age gracefully is a given." - Philip Rich (Halliday Wine Companion)
96 points
"It’s intense, it’s bony, and it’s long. It’s very Upper Yarra. It showed a bit of cedarwood oak when I first opened it, as in a bit too much, but once it had been allowed to breathe it seemed precisely in balance. This wine tastes of grapefruit and chalk, lemon and pear, with musk and sea-spray characters driven within. It has genuine, penetrative momentum, tempered by a gentle, textural creaminess. Flint is not part of the Giant Steps style but there’s a smidgen of it here, just enough to complex. This chardonnay is nothing if not a wine for the cellar. It doesn’t want you to flirt with it; it wants you to invest."
- Campbell Mattinson (The Wine Front)
2022 Place of Changing Winds Larderdark Chardonnay
The Larderdark Chardonnay from Place of Changing Winds stands out for its remarkable concentration and power. The tiny yields from their close-planted Chardonnay vines, coupled with the cool climate, result in a wine of exceptional freshness and drive.
Fermented and aged in glass Wineglobes, an older barrique, and a new 500-litre Dominique Laurent cask, this Chardonnay underwent full malolactic fermentation and was bottled in late 2023. This unique combination of ageing vessels enhances the wine's complexity and depth - another of the meticulous details from Walters that makes this project so unique.
It's a mind-blowingly delicious Chardonnay. The palate is rich and plush, with a long, sweet spice finish and talc-like mineral notes. This elegant wine has garnered high praise, including 96 points from Mike Bennie of The Wine Front.
With only limited quantities produced, the 2022 Larderdark Chardonnay is a rare find. It embodies the meticulous and innovative approach of Robert Walters and his team, making it a must-try for Chardonnay enthusiasts seeking a wine with distinctive character and high acclaim.
96 points
"So elegant, so refined, poise and precision yet with flavour and depth. It opens with flickers of flinty mineral elements, toast and woody spices, sweet spice too, sugared almond, green apple, stone fruits and alpine herbal elements... One of those wines you shake the last drops out of the bottle onto your tongue, or is that just me?"
- Mike Bennie (The Wine Front)
96+ points
"The 2022 Larderdark Chardonnay is pure and slippery: it exudes an unfettered fruit profile and a splay of glassy phenolics... This is a remarkably beautiful wine, but it is quite distinct. It doesn't go down the reductive, oaky path; rather, it adheres to ground-based principles of fruit, vast sky and earth. It's a beauty. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under Diam and wax."
- Erin Larkin (The Wine Advocate)
Customer Reviews
Total 5 star reviews: 1 Total 4 star reviews: 0 Total 3 star reviews: 0 Total 2 star reviews: 0 Total 1 star reviews: 0
1 review
- THTricia H.Verified Buyer4 years agoRated 5 out of 5 starsGreat Chardonnay great service
Exceptional package of great Australian Chardonnay.. equally matched by great and efficient delivery. Love Different Drop
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