Giaconda Estate Chardonnay 2023
No introductions needed, just a split second buying decision before it is gone.
Now widely regarded as the finest Chardonnay in Australia, the entire allocation there sold out in 5 minutes this year!
Giaconda vineyard was established by Rick Kinzbrunner, a mechanical engineer who became interested in wine in the early 1970's. Rick then spent the next ten years working in the industry, travelling and following his passion for wine. After a brief stint in New Zealand, he studied at Davis University in California and worked at some of the most respected wineries in the Napa and Sonoma Valleys (namely Stag's Leap, Simi and Matanzas Creek). In Europe he worked for the Moueix group in Bordeaux, co-owner of the fabled Chateau Petrus. After returning to Australia in 1980 to take up a position as assistant winemaker at Brown Brothers in Milawa,
Rick purchased land in the nearby Beechworth wine region - at the foothills of the beautiful North-East Victorian Alps. Planting commenced in 1982 and the property is now devoted solely to Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Shiraz. A separate planting of Nebbiolo has also been established close to the Beechworth township at Red Hill. Total area under vines at the Giaconda Estate Vineyard is now 4 hectares. Annual wine production is approximately 2,500 dozen bottles. Rick’s son Nathan Kinzbrunner also works full time at Giaconda and has done so since the 2007 vintage. Since 2018 we are now fully certified organic by the Bio Dynamic Research Institute (BDRI).
"The 2023 Estate Vineyard Chardonnay leads with an abundance of smoky, nutty, savory reduction. Here, the 2023 feels less exotic and softly spoken than the 2022 tasted alongside, with the 2023 showing more tension and focus. The 2023 only gets better the longer it is opened, revealing white peach, curry leaf, pink grapefruit acidity, blood orange, coffee grounds, graphite and mustard seeds. What a wine. The sheer intensity of flavor here is astonishing—it penetrates the palate and soars long into the memory. Far from pinching the finish, the reduction provokes a physical response, one that requires more drinking to satiate. I also tasted this wine as its component parts when I visited the estate in January 2024, and seeing each of the barrels as individuals and then now witnessing the holistic conglomeration of them is very cool. The wine makes more sense to me, and it's infinitely more kaleidoscopic." Drink 2025-2043 98+/100 Parker's Wine Advocate
