Description
- 2024 Swinging Bridge Caldwell Lane Chardonnay
- 2023 Swinging Bridge Hill Park Chardonnay
- 2024 Swinging Bridge Caldwell Lane Pinot Noir
- 2023 Swinging Bridge Hill Park Pinot Noir
2024 Swinging Bridge Caldwell Lane Chardonnay
Tom Ward keeps making the case that Orange belongs in any serious conversation about Australian Chardonnay, and Caldwell Lane is one of his best arguments. It's part of his Single Vineyard Series, the top of the Swinging Bridge range, made only in the best years.
The vineyard sits at 890 metres, a few kilometres west of the Hill Park cellar door. Two blocks go in: Block A, flat with richer soils, and Block D, a rocky, free-draining shelf facing northwest. 2024 was warm, with an early budburst and a humid patch in February that meant plenty of trimming, leaf plucking and thinning. Low yields ripened evenly, and the fruit came in by hand on 24 February.
In the winery it's the familiar recipe. Pressed to tank, a short settle, then into barrel with some solids to ferment. It spent 10 months in hogsheads and puncheons, 20% new, with stirring tapered off barrel by barrel, and only the best barrels made the cut.
It has more fruit intensity than the 2023, with white peach, nectarine and grapefruit, a flinty, nutty edge and bright, punchy acidity. Still tightly wound at 12.9% alcohol, and the critics agree it'll be even better with a couple of years in bottle. Powerful, precise high-altitude Chardonnay from a winemaker on a roll.
95 points
"There is vitality to the fruit; it feels plucked from the vine... The wine captures the standout vintage."
- Shanteh Wale (Halliday Wine Companion)
95 points
"Swinging Bridge makes great chardonnay and this is yet more evidence... it’s clearly a tip top release."
- Campbell Mattinson (The Wine Front)
2023 Swinging Bridge Hill Park Chardonnay
Block 7 at Swinging Bridge's Hill Park Vineyard is one of the last parcels in Orange to ripen each year, and that long, slow hang time is the whole point. Sitting at 900 metres on a south-facing slope with east-west rows, it's about as cool-climate as Chardonnay gets in New South Wales.
Tom Ward's family has farmed around Canowindra since 1867, and he's now firmly among the region's leading growers, named Vigneron of the Year at the 2024 Orange Wine Show for his work on this very vineyard. The block's three soil types are farmed separately. The Hill Park sits in the Single Vineyard Series, made only when the season delivers.
2023 was a strange one. A cold, wet spring meant late budburst and small bunches, so the team opened up the canopy with plenty of leaf plucking and thinning, before a warm January to March brought the fruit to full ripeness with the natural acidity still intact. The juice went to barrel with a fair amount of solids, fermented wild and spent seven months in French hogsheads and puncheons (20% new), with each barrel stirred to its own needs.
It's beautiful, elegant Chardonnay - all citrus, white nectarine and a little flint, then fills out on the palate with creamy lemon curd and a waxy texture and feel - all held in check by bright acidity and a tight mineral edge. Compact and fine right now, it'll age slowly and well. Serious Orange Chardonnay from a site and a grower at the top of their game.
95 points
"With its fine silhouette indicative of the mixed climatic vintage, this will continue to age slowly and steadily."
- Shanteh Wale (Halliday Wine Companion)
95 points
"Cracking wine... It makes quality look easy."
- Campbell Mattinson (The Wine Front)
2024 Swinging Bridge Caldwell Lane Pinot Noir
Swinging Bridge only makes its Single Vineyard Series when the season is good enough, and the 2024 Caldwell Lane Pinot Noir is a deeper, darker and more powerful take on high-altitude Orange Pinot than you might expect. It's made by Tom Ward, who we call, The Mayor of Orange. Tom's a legend and doing his damnedest to elevate the perceptions of Pinot Noir from his home.
Caldwell Lane sits at 890 metres, about 4km west of the Hill Park cellar door. This wine comes from Block G, an east-facing, late-ripening block on top of a ridge. 2024 was warm with an early start, and a humid February meant lots of leaf plucking and thinning. Then a dry March let the Pinot ripen fully while keeping its natural acidity.
Clones 667 and 115 are kept apart the whole way through. They're destemmed without rollers so plenty of berries stay whole, cold-soaked for three days, then pressed to barrel to finish fermenting. After ten months in French oak (20% new, mostly puncheons), only the best barrels make the cut.
It's darker than the Hill Park with an earthy, smoky edge, plus some spice and savoury undergrowth. But it's still medium-bodied, with chewy, fine tannins and a long finish. Still young, though. The oak needs a bit of time to settle in, so a couple of years in the cellar will pay off, and it has plenty of life ahead.
95 points
"2024 is proving to be a harmonious year for pinot noir in Orange and this vintage shows its self assurance... it's a fine wine now and will continue to age well."
- Shanteh Wale (Halliday Wine Companion)
93 points
"There’s a lot of wine here... the inherent power of the fruit, and complexity, will see it through to an excellent future."
- Campbell Mattinson (The Wine Front)
2023 Swinging Bridge Hill Park Pinot Noir
If anyone still doubts Orange as serious Pinot country, the Hill Park Pinot Noir is the bottle we'd hand them. It's part of Swinging Bridge's Single Vineyard Series, the top of the range, made only when the season allows and only from the best barrels.
Hill Park is home for Tom Ward, high on the slopes of Mt Canobolas at around 900m. The 2023 season started cold and wet, with late budburst and small bunches, so the team spent spring opening up the canopy. Then January to March turned warm, and the Abel and 667 clones came off in late March with good ripeness and naturally low yields.
The fruit was destemmed gently to keep plenty of whole berries, cold-soaked for three days, then pressed to barrel to finish fermenting. Each clone stayed separate until the end, before the best barrels were picked out and given eight months in mostly puncheons, 20% new.
It's pale and pretty in the glass, with hibiscus, raspberry, strawberry and red cherry, plus a touch of spice and soft, fine tannins. Light on its feet at 13%, but there's depth and length here - a high-altitude NSW Pinot with finesse and the structure to age.
96 points
"Careful – swoon and you’ll miss this wine, but swoon you most likely will... A wine of real pedigree."
- Shanteh Wale (Halliday Wine Companion)
Swinging Bridge Wines
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