2020 Bannockburn Chardonnay

~ Pedigreed & Powerful

One of Australia’s leading chardonnays, Bannockburn’s pedigree and confidence shines through in this wine.  Intense flavours, from vines planted in 1976 and 1981 provide depth and nuance while careful winemaking technique adds complexity to the ripe core. 

The Bannockburn Chardonnay is drawn chiefly from the Estate’s Olive Tree Hill Vineyard (planted in 1976) and Winery Block (1981), which are both on volcanic soils over limestone, with an average vine age of around 35 years. Whole-bunch pressed and settled overnight, the juice was then wild-fermented in mainly 500-litre French oak hogsheads (20% new), with 70% undergoing malolactic. The wine spent 10 months on lees with no stirring, and no sulphur was added until bottling. Combining both power and finesse, you’ll find aromas of orchard pear and fig fruit, licked with citrus, ripe white peaches and some roasted cashew complexity. In classic Bannockburn mould, the flow is seamless. It’s both mouth-filling and lithe; a release bursting with flavour and an equally engaging measure of savoury restraint.

“Straw-coloured but then fresh and pear-like on the palate. Interesting wine, quite distinctive, with flashes of quartz and sweet cedar matched to gun smoke and lemon curd. It has both length and intensity on its side, along with complexity, but perhaps not harmony. It’s not close to ready; it needs time.” 

93+ points, Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front