OAKRIDGE WINES Local Vineyard Series Willowlake Chardonnay, Yarra Valley

Twelve bottles of Oakridge wine landed all at once. It doesn’t make any commercial sense to review them all but all will be reviewed regardless. This chardonnay is from the Willowlake vineyard at Gladysdale, which is in the Upper Yarra. It’s from a north-facing vineyard; a warmer aspect nestled within the cool.

Wow the flavour. Willowlake for the win here. Green pineapple, fresh peach, citrus, spice, cedar and assorted yellow stone fruits. It hits and it impresses, from the outset, and it sails long too. There’s just so much juicy, intense, impressive flavour here. This is an outstanding wine, and outstanding buying.

TAPANAPPA Piccadilly Valley Chardonnay,

The 2025 vintage in the Adelaide Hills is the warmest, driest and earliest vintage on record, certainly providing a change and a challenge for the winemakers. That said, early indications are that it will provide excellent wines, although in its own image. The vines used here are in excess of forty years of age, making them some of the oldest in the region. Fermentation was in French oak barriques with one third of them new. Maturation continued through to October of the harvest year with the wine on full lees in those barrels. 2,000 dozen made. There is definitely an extra level of richness to this wine than what we have seen from their recent vintages. The colour is a yellow gold and there are pronounced aromatics throughout. We have notes of hazelnuts, stone fruits, a hint of flint, peaches, apricot skins and oatmeal. The oak is integrating well and there is good intensity. Rich and ripe, there is some serious length here with a fine line of acidity. Enjoy this over the next eight years, during which time the wine will surely climb a little higher when it comes to the score.