Pale yellow/straw Citrus and white peach with complex flinty, toasty notes Seamless and elegant with layers of white peach, citrus blossom and a hint of oak, finishing with slatey minerality

Sitting high in the Adelaide Hills, Sidewood hand craft single vineyard wines of the utmost complexity. Their Chardonnay is made up of four French Chardonnay clones from the Ashwood vineyard and shows a crisp front palate with lifted layers of aromatic fruit. Each clone provides a unique flavour profile to the end result and delivers a wine displaying complex pear, peach & fig fruit flavours with some lovely nutmeg and sage spice notes.

A complex array of melon fig and cashew aromas is followed by a typically elegant and subtle palate with beautifully integrated oak. Petaluma had set a benchmark in Australian Chardonnay.

Be Bold. Be Brave. Be Courageous. That’s the motto of Kings’ Creed in South Australia’s beautiful Adelaide Hills district. Their aim is to “craft small batch wines of quality with bold character.” The wines are made by the legendary Ben Riggs, so that’s a creed that will be easy to live up to. Their gorgeous Chardonnay certainly shows lots of lavish fruit on a cool, crisp palate. Medium-weight in structure, you’ll find refreshing apple, stone fruit and citrus flavours. The fruit was whole bunch pressed and fermented in old French oak barrels. Left on lees for six months. Perfect for lunch with poached chicken and a Waldorf salad.

Fruit for the 2022 Tilbury was sourced from the Lenswood Vineyard (80%) with the balance coming from the usual Piccadilly and Lobethal growers that have previously contributed to this wine. The style of the fruit from the Lenswood site is more open and generous, providing a beautiful contrast to the linear and tight nature of the Piccadilly and Lobethal material. Its fruit is from own-rooted I10v1 clone vines planted in 1989 and Bernard 76 and 95 clones planted in the early 2000s. The Lobethal site is close to 500m of elevation and has soils that are loaded with ironstone, contributing fruit with a classic flinty expression and powerful drive. The Piccadilly soils are varied, with sandstone, sandy loam and ironstone. The fruit was hand-harvested and whole-bunch pressed into French puncheons, barriques and some Stockinger vessels for fermentation (about 40% new wood this year). The wine went through full malo and had some light lees stirring over eight months maturation.

Bush Chardonnay is an elegant and alluring expression of contemporary Australian Chardonnay. A nod to the past using traditional techniques including wild fermentation combines with modern winemaking style. Lively cool climate fruit with fresh varietal flavours of nectarine, white peach and grapefruit. Subtle French oak adds perfumed spice and a creamy texture to the mouthfeel.