Bannockburn Chardonnay 2022

Bannockburn Vineyards' commitment to quality drives everything they do, from the vineyard to the bottle. All Bannockburn wines are made from fruit grown on their long-established estate in the Geelong wine region. The meticulously tended vineyards and the hands-off approach by winemaker Matt Holmes result in wines that are exciting, complex and uniquely Bannockburn.

The quality and style on offer can be traced back to the estate’s exceptional, organically farmed sites, the Olive Tree Hill Vineyard (planted in 1976 and abutting the S.R.H parcel) and Winery Block (1981), both on volcanic soils over limestone clays with an average vine age of around 35 years. Recently, the Estate Chardonnay has also included fruit from the Kelly Lane Vineyard (Clone 76), and this release also includes a small component from Stuart’s Block.

Whole-bunch pressed and settled overnight, the juice was then wild-fermented in a mixture of 500-litre French oak hogsheads and puncheons (20% new), with 70% undergoing malolactic. The wine spent 10 months on lees with no stirring.

It’s an exceptional release that strikes a mouth-watering balance between fruit weight, tensile acidity and supple texture. Stone fruit flavours are complemented by richer characters and balanced by crystalline freshness, tangy grip and a lengthy, complex finish. Such a detailed and refined release.

Pure fruit, perfect balance, lots of length. It will need time to build complexity but everything here appears to be in excellent working order. Pear, apple, grapefruit and white peach flavours come littered with seashells and smoky, cedarwood oak. Nothing is overdone; everything glides along. - Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front, 94 points

The Finer Details
Style - White Wine
Varietal - Chardonnay
Country - Australia
Region - Geelong, Victoria
Vintage - 2022
Bottle Size - 750ml
ABV - 13%