The Funder & Diamond Block is at Wandin East, and was (close) planted in 1990. The name Oakridge 864 Chardonnay speaks for itself. This 2023 edition is the 12th release of a single-block Chardonnay from the Funder & Diamond Vineyard, Drive Block (first produced in 2011).

Chardonnay for the win. This is just sensationally good. It’s powerfully fruited, powerfully complex and powerfully refreshing. That’s a combination for you. Peach, flint, chalk, green pineapple, crisp apple and mealy, cedar-y, smoky notes. It’s shows velocity, tension and calm in equal measure. On the finish it slings through to tomorrow. Nothing here is overdone and yet everything feels profound.

The 2023 864 Single Block Release Funder & Diamond Drive Block Chardonnay is awesome. It's nutty and gently reductive, saline and focused, with piercing intensity on the palate. It's salty, it's complex, it's sleek, the flavor is palate-staining, excellent. This superb wine is really impressive. The fruit was sourced from the Funder and Diamond vineyard (Drive Block), from vines closely planted in the red volcanic soils of Wandin East to the P58 clone in 1990. It was handpicked, then whole-bunch pressed direct to French puncheons (20% new) for wild fermentation and 10 months of élevage, followed by another six months (blended) on the fine lees in tank. I love this wine, and it looks utterly magnificent here today. Yes! 13.3% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

Erin Larkin