Franco D’Anna was excited by this parcel in barrel last year to create a new bottling run and now the new label joins the Syberia at the apex of the chardonnay marques for Hoddles Creek Estate. Mendoza clone chardonnay. Single block. No fining, additions or filtration.

Hoddles Creek Estate, Road Block, Chardonnay, Yarra Valley, 2016

Understated class on the nose. Stonefruit and light fig, cooled by earthy white stone and clean straw, punctuated with hints of kitchen herbs and comforting mature oak. So pure, so clean, so balanced; this simply glides along the palate in a tight procession of lightness and grace that trails long into the distance like a comet’s tail. Pick your superlatives, this is all class.

RRP: $60
Alc: 12.5%
Rating:  18.75/20

Wine sample courtesy of Hoddles Creek Estate