The Reserve Release Yarra Valley wines are all estate grown on selected vineyard sites. Winemaker Steve Webber is a ? rm believer in regionality and that wine should have a sense of place. He has taken this to a new level in the Yarra Valley where individual vineyard sites have been graded according to vine age and previous fruit and wine quality. Only wine grown on the best vineyard sites makes it into Reserve Release. Furthermore vineyard practices have changed to a more organic approach in the belief that better soil and plant health will be more sustainable and produce higher quality fruit. De Bortoli

This is made with grapes grown on 22 year old vines. It's made with intelligence and care. It does not see any new oak. It actually got better having been open for 24 hours - indeed, it got tighter, more refined, less fruity. It's a stellar wine. It will age. It tastes of grapefruit, meal, milk and pear, and is rigidly structured. It is purity personified. Drink: 2009-2014. 95 points. Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front

Aromas of lemon, honeydew melon, matchstick, hazelnut and nougat. On the palate medium bodied with honeydew melon, lemon pith, mineral and savoury matchsticky flavours. Subdued, refined and polished. Glossy even, but not quite hiding the muscles underneath the fine tailoring. Crisp flinty acidity and a very long almond and citrus finish. A beautiful and fine wine of distinction. 94 points; Gary Walsh, Winorama (www.winorama.com.au), 13 July 2007

This is a very taut, subtle, reserved chardonnay style with plenty of lees batonnage character but no apparent malo effect. Some roast chicken oak/lees derived character. Nicely reserved, and has good penetration and length. 5 Stars * * * * * Huon Hooke, Australian Gourmet Traveller Wine, 1 November 2007

Webber says he would like to ferment all his whites in old oak: ‘old oak gives great texture to all things’. Each year he buys 200 new barriques, uses them for $12 wines and then brings them back for the premium wines. The Reserve Chardonnay, for example, sees no new oak. De Bortoli Reserve Chardonnay 2005: Some fresh minerality on the nose, which is complex and broad but still tight. The palate is tight and intense with some minerality. Nicely complex. Very good/excellent 92/100; Jamie Goode, Wine Anorak

Light yellow. Smoky peach, honeydew, orange and mint on the nose, with a deeper vanilla quality. Bright citrus and pit fruit flavors are braced by firm but harmonious acidity that adds brightness to the finish. This chardonnay possesses a very nice interplay of energy and depth, as well as the balance to repay cellaring. 91 points; Josh Raynolds , Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar ( USA ), July/August 2007