De Bortoli The Estate Vineyard Dixons Creek Chardonnay is a quintessentially Yarra Valley Chardonnay by a definitive Australian producer.
Made by the indomitable Steve Webber at De Bortoli’s Estate Vineyard in Dixons Creek, you’d expect quality and value in spades, and you’d be correct. Hand-picked fruit, whole bunch pressed, and aged in mature French oak, it is refreshing and pure cool climate Chardonnay with a palate that tends towards stone fruit.
From the morning sun plots at the Dixons Creek property. Similar technique to the other chardonnays in the stable, wild-fermented, lees aged and no new oak. Very much fruit-focused, edging to stone fruit, with superior palate presence and texture to the Villages, a whisker less complexity to A5. Ridiculous value.
95 points, Wine Companion (January 2019)
This isn’t an underdone chardonnay but it’s on the skinny side style-wise. It does carry the flesh of nectarine and perhaps grapefruit, with custard apple, cedar-spice and white peach characters shooting through the back half. It has elegance written all over it; it has length and carry; it has composure. It’s nicely done, it has to be said, and it will be better again in 12-24 months.
92+ points, The Wine Front (July 2019)
Light yellow hue, with a gently nutty toasty bouquet, which is richer and more multi-dimensional on the palate. It retains its reserve and tightness, dryness and delicacy, but also has layers. Traces of honey and lemon curd. A delicious wine, vibrant and refreshing and loaded with entertaining flavour.
92 points, The Real Review (June 2019)
Some lemons and white peaches with a very expressive, peach-fruited palate that has a fresh array of vibrant, tart, yellow orchard fruit.
92 points, jamessuckling.com (June 2019)
Yarra Valley
The Yarra Valley was first planted by the Ryrie brothers who explored a way through the Snowy Mountains to the Yarra Valley, planting grapes in 1838 just three years after the foundation of Melbourne. A wine industry (developed by Swiss Settlers particularly Hubert de Castella and Baron Guillaume de Pury in the 1850s) thrived during the gold rush era and heyday of the 19th century. However, the end of the gold rush brought the wine industry into decline and it was not until the 1970’s that the modern wine industry started up again. The region is probably Australia’s best-known cool-climate area, yet it is really a patchwork of meso-climates. This varied topography creates an incredible set of variables. Vineyards are planted on elevations of 50 to 400m on varying aspects and management programmes. The more exposed sites are subject to severe spring frosts and winds. Overall, the area experiences a relatively high rainfall pattern and is known for its temperature extremes during ripening. Site selection is crucial, with the best vineyards often located where the original vines were once planted, generally on sandy clay loams and gravels. The Yarra Valley is well known for high quality Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Cabernet Blends with Shiraz increasingly garnering attention. Sparkling wine production is also extremely important, with many of Australia’s finest examples produced in the region.
