Giaconda Estate Chardonnay 2022

$250.00

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 2022 Estate Vineyard Chardonnay follows hot on the heels of the perfect 2021 release, and in doing so, it has big boots to fill. Aromatically, the wine leads, as all Giaconda Chardonnay's do, with white flowers and notions of campfire and charred gum leaves, cracked white peppercorns and white peach, salt and caper brine. Crushed and salted nuts, enoki mushroom, shaved fennel, torched pink grapefruit ... the cavalcade of flavors march on across the palate. In this season, the wine is altogether more quietly nuanced and placid than the sleek, powerfully focused 2021 vintage. However, in so saying, this wine is balanced and fine, somewhat less overtly reductive (although still imbued with that salivating characteristic), populated by softer-spoken fruit and yet no less sapid or palate staining. It is in the mouth that the pedigree of the wine comes to the fore. The chalky texture and the penetrating intensity of flavor in combination are what make this wine so great, as I see it, and the 2022 vintage provides a gentle framework within which the wine exists. This is a gorgeous, elegant, precise and detailed release of this magnificent wine. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap." Drink 2024 - 2042 98/100 Parker's Wine Advocate, Erin Larkin

"An utterly beguiling wine of deep complexity and stunning freshness. Vintage '22 brought on one of the latest harvests ever for the maker, and the cool season and long hang time has worked a special kind of magic. The scent demands your attention, with jasmine, citrus blossom, grapefruit flesh, nectarine, peach custard, cashew and buttered toast. Seamless entry, the wine glides across a richly detailed palate, textural and luxurious in flavour, with a pinch of bright quince-led spice to close. Filigree fine acidity brings a crystal clarity and freshness. A chardonnay masterclass from the masters." Drink 2024 - 2038 99/100 Halliday's Wine Companion, Jeni Port "