Fruit coming from Sutherland Estate in Dixons Creek, Yarra Valley. Planted in 1995, South-facing, 200m above sea level, offers a naturally cooler profile throughout the growing season. Lovely core of ripe orchard fruits and driving acidity underpins this wine. It’s plush, fruit forward with crushed almond meal on the palate.

Jayden Ong working with some very fine Chardonnay from the upper Yarra Valley.

David Bicknell is a Chardonnay perfectionist with a passion for terroir and contrasts in the characters of different vineyard sites. In the glass: Bright fine straw with a green hue. On the nose: Fabulous purity and lift with ripe, complex stonefruit combining with lees and struck match magic. On the palate: A complex funky monster! It shows tremendous depth and umami being satiny soft throughout with amazing refined power and balance and extraordinary length and persistence. Classy!

A beautifully perfumed Gewurztraminer from the oldest planting in the Yarra Valley.

This third Glen Garvald Marsanne Roussanne release builds upon the realisation of a 13-year long process of development from inspiration to ideation to actualization of a dream triggered by our winemaker working the 2006 vintage at the incomparable Domaine Jean-Louis Chave in the Hermitage appellation of France’s northern Rhône Valley. This family-owned and operated domaine has been producing blends of superlative and ethereal expression and highest regard from these perfectly matched varieties for centuries. Unfurling aromas of ginger, lychee, makrut lime leaf, vanilla custard, tarragon and orange blossom introduce the rich and viscous palate. The wine’s length and persistence are enhanced by tactile phenolics and a subliminal bitterness contributed by the Marsanne skins. Roussanne works as the perfect foil, harnessing and focusing the power of the Marsanne, adding definition across the palate and accentuating the finish. Flavour resounds and reverberates as a result. This wine may experience a couple of peaks throughout its maturation: an initial youthful vibrancy followed by a period of relative dormancy of indeterminate time. Its second rising will be the most definitive as it experiences a long, graceful and stable blooming into its twilight. Best serving temperature: 8-12°C.

DE BORTOLI WINES Single Vineyard Section A7 Chardonnay, Yarra Valley

The aspiration of Oakridge LVS -- or Local Vineyard Series -- wines is to be outstanding expressions of single vineyards within the Yarra Valley. Local Vineyard Series wines enable wine lovers to compare and contrast the power of terroir and geography in winemaking. In essence, different grape varieties thrive in different soils, and Yarra Valley terroirs and altitudes vary widely. Oakridges expertise and understanding of the region allows viticulturists and winemakers to match a particular variety with a particular site -- with marvellous results. Almost all LVS wines are cellarworthy. The Willowlake Vineyard is just outside Gladysdale in Victorias Upper Yarra Valley. Planted in 1979 at an elevation 300 metres, the cool-grown Chardonnay here ranks with the regions very best. Add the skills of leading Chardonnay exponent David Bicknell and these hand-picked grapes become wines that express their variety and origin with consummate precision and flair.