CHERUBINO Ovale Chardonnay Clonal, Pemberton

Bright straw yellow colour. Yellow nectarine and bacon fat aromatics. Full and weighty stone fruits fill the senses as it glides along the palate. Hints of cooking toffee and roasted cashews add depth of flavour to the wine and acidity is persistent in its framing and driving of it. Great length and character to the finish. Stuart Knox. 

OAKRIDGE WINES 864 Aqueduct Block Henk Vineyard Chardonnay, Yarra Valley

Unless someone has been living under a rock for the last decade, there is probably little point in me telling readers just how good the top wines from Oakridge are. Because they really are. But allow me to say that I’m not sure I’ve seen a better collection than these latest releases. The grapes here were whole bunch pressed direct to French oak puncheons for a wild ferment, with 20% of those barrels new. A further ten months maturation on lees followed and a further six months after that on lees in tank. The aim of the 864 series is to reveal the terroir of single vineyards and blocks. In this case, that is aided by the fact that the vineyard is a single clone, the Dijon clone 95. The vineyard was planted in 2008. An appealing lemon/straw hue, there are intense aromas on the nose here. We have notes of cashews, white peaches, florals and exceptional oak integration. An exquisite nose, the wine is fresh with great length and bright acidity. Superbly balanced, a seductive texture, alluringly elegant, this will drink beautifully for the next ten to twelve years. There are hints of early complexity but it seems certain that that will increase enormously in the coming years. An exceptional 864. 

OAKRIDGE WINES 864 Aqueduct Block Henk Vineyard Chardonnay, Yarra Valley

The complete chardonnay. Body, flavour, texture, length and X-factor, all set within a neat, immaculate frame. For pure exacting quality this is as good as anything anywhere. It tastes of tonic-like herbs, white peach, citrus, woodsmoke, oatmeal, grapefruit, steel and cumin, and while I wouldn’t call it either flinty or reductive there’s just a smidgen of something extra there, the wind catching the bride’s veil and making it flutter. I could marvel at this wine all day; it’s brilliant.