The Epis chardonnay vines are now 18 years old - no doubt part of the reason why they turn out such good grapes year in, year out. These vines are dry-grown and fanatically tended. They’re turned into wine with the help of Stuart Anderson. 2007 was a warm year and as was the case in a lot of southern Victoria, harvest was a month ahead of schedule.

There’s a clip of sweet, coconutty oak and at first it seems a bit heavy-handed. This isn’t the Chablis-style that Epis chardonnay has been angling towards in recent years - again, it’s low-ish alcohol but there is a minor spot of warmth on the finish. All that admitted, as the wine rests in the glass classic notes of lemon and nectarine and hazelnut burst forward, the thrust and charm of it never in dispute. This is another excellent Epis chardonnay - and while it may not cellar as long as the past couple of releases, my bet is that it will improve in the bottle over the next five years with ease. Rated : 93 Points Alcohol : 13% Price : $40 Closure : Diam Drink : 2009 - 2014 Campbell Mattinson; The Wine Front

Only a small number of vineyards in Victoria’s cool-climate Macedon Ranges region deliver internationally recognisable elements of style and quality. Invariably located in heat trap-like sites that are able to reach full physiological ripeness in most seasons, the best vineyards can produce distinctively Australian wines of an uncanny French-ness. Bindi is one of these, but has become too well known to be a subject in this story. Epis, however, is right on brief.

Combine the abilities and passion of the Odd Couple-like pairing of winemaker Stuart Anderson and viticulturist Alec Epis and you have an irresistible recipe for tiny amounts of high-class Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Cabernet Merlot. Humorous and irascible, Epis is a former premiership-winning player for Essendon in what was then the Victorian Football League. Founder of the small Balgownie vineyard and a well-known connoisseur of the wines of Burgundy and Bordeaux, Anderson is a worldly and cultivated character who still enjoys making wine in France and is perhaps today making some of the best wine of his long life in the Macedon Ranges.

Grown at Epis’ home vineyard at Woodend, the Chardonnay marries the concentration of low-cropped Australian fruit with a length, tautness and minerality suggestive of Macon in Burgundy. It’s unusually fragrant, with a palate of crystal-clear citrus and honeydew melon flavour. With the seductively sappy mouthfeel of pinot at its finest, Epis’ Pinot Noir reveals a heady, spicy perfume of musk, cinnamon and cherries, before a palate of sumptuous depth and fine-grained structure. From the old Flynn and Williams vineyard at Kyneton, the Epis and Williams Cabernet Sauvignon does perhaps vary more from season to season than the other wines. Warmer years deliver more flesh and substance; cooler seasons more mint and dried herbs. There is no intent, dream or even room to increase the production of these rare and distinctive wines. Jeremy Oliver