Yabby Lake Chardonnay has a lifted and fine nose, which is complex and beguiling. The palate is fine and tightly wound together with a precise mineral intensity. Great length and poise, the wine finishes with great purity. Stored carefully this wine will age gracefully for at least eight years. 'The epitome of modern Australian Chardonnay, fruit, oak and natural acidity seamlessly woven together into a wine that will always have an element of restrained delicacy, but will flourish mightily with five years in bottle, and live much longer' - 96 points, James Halliday.

'Wow Tangy mixed citrus peel and complex white stonefruit smelling; subtle flintiness and icy cold quartz. Amazing the mouth too: intense, long, edgy and mouth-sucking. So complex and charged with energy that descriptors elude.' (2012 Vintage) - 97/100. - Australian Financial Review, 29 Aug 2014.

The wine expresses characters of lemon curd, glazed apricot Danish, ginger snap and orange blossom team with savoury underlying buckwheat, lanolin and toasty char complexity. These work in concert with a tactile calcareous interplay underpinning a silky pear-like texture. A lingering line of acidity provides the backbone but allows for the richness, weight and flavour, directing to a resounding and expansive finish. where body, flavour & palate weight co-exist with structure, texture and restrained acidity. Complex fruit characters of white nectarine, saffron, Pink Lady apple, chamomile flower, cashews and Leatherwood honey work in concert with a tactile interplay of chalk, silkiness and Beurre Bosc pear-like texture. Subtle acidity provides the backbone conveying the fruit and weight to a resounding finish.

WinemakingAll fruit was hand-picked and whole-bunch pressed. The cuvee taille (first cut free-run juice) was settled naturally overnight prior to racking to a mix of stainless steel tank and large format old barrels for fermentation.Fermented and aged separately in small batch lots on settled lees for nine months. The blended wine then underwent secondary fermentation in the bottle. This wine has been aged for an extended period on its autolysing yeast lees for more than four years to garner richness and complexity to its innate elegance and finesse.Winemaker's notesThe protracted growing season allowed a drawn-out ripening, resulting in an uncommon richness of flavour tempered by the abundant natural acidity contributed by the season.A bouquet of nashi pear, glazed brioche, lemon cheesecake and Amaretti buscuit. Flavours of nougat, lemon rind, jasmine and chestnut underpin a palate of steely acidity with delicated bubble, fruit weight and earthy 'sur lie' characters providing textural accompaniement, richness and creaminess to the finish. An excellent match for freshly-shucked oysters or semi-hard cow's milk cheeses.

Hand harvested, hand sorted & whole bunch pressed. Natural fermentation is on high solids with partial malolactic. Barrel fermented in 500-litre puncheons (20% new François Frères), the wine is matured on lees for 10 months before bottling.A bright & punchy Chardonnay; Lemon & grapefruit citrus. Sherbert. Spicy oak. slight lees funkiness. A good lengthy finish.

This white blend's aroma includes some beeswax complexity and preserved lemon peel lift. Red apple skin and creamy white peach. The palate has crunchy red apple freshness and delicious passionfruit tropical fruits. The small amount of skin contact gives a textural wine and encouraged structure through tannins. The length is dominated by the Semillon and driven by a bright acid tang that would stand up to a variety of food pairings.

GAFFY AND NEAL Merricks North Chardonnay, Mornington Peninsula

The Oakridge 864 range is a showcase of highly detailed micro-selections from the most exceptional single vineyard sites in the Yarra Valley. This Chardonnay comes from the Funder and Diamond Vineyard in Wandin East, a north-facing site at 240 metres elevation. Planted in 1990 with the renowned P58 clone, the vineyard’s red volcanic soils and cool climate produce wines of precision, purity and depth. A vibrant Chardonnay with lifted aromas of kaffir lime leaf, citrus pith, white nectarine and alpine mint, layered with notes of flint, ginger and toasted almonds. Subtle oak brings warmth through hints of ginger snap and spice. The palate is bright, textured and tightly coiled, with flavours of candied lime, lemon drop, grapefruit pith and juicy nectarine. A fine bead of acidity and mineral crunch carry the wine to a long, layered finish. Elegant yet powerful, this is a classic expression of 864 Chardonnay - refined, complex and built to age.