Perfect, pale green colour and lifted grapefruit aromas. The French oak sits nicely with the fine, juicy citrus flavours on the palate accompanied by subtle bran meal. The driving force of this wine is the acidity – long and pure. More than three quarters from Beechworth, the balance being from a combination of the Hunter Valley, Yarra Valley and Orange. The final components of this wine basically selected themselves. Another top-notch vintage! A milder and later than average growing season was the dominant factor in Beechworth for vintage 2022. Above average rainfall throughout 2021 made for a challenging growing season with disease pressure a constant. January was wet, with 140mm falling for the month. Thankfully the rain cleared for February, allowing the vineyard to dry off. The fruit was picked before a second deluge arrived in early March, with the fruit in good condition with fine acidity. Brokenwood, along with a large number of Chardonnay producers, are harvesting much earlier than 15 years ago. This is partly due to a lot of vineyards reaching maturity, and therefore having great fruit flavour and concentration at lower sugar levels. Additionally, consumers are demanding more finely structured Chardonnay, meaning lower alcohols and less oak.