A wet spring ensured a full soil moisture profile during flowering. Most vineyards in southern Victoria set large crops, so shoot thinning and judicious fruit thinning was essential to avoid overcropping. Our vineyards all delivered perfectly balanced chardonnay with excellent natural acidity and concentrated flavours. For the first time we sourced fruit from the Mornington Peninsular and East Gippsland.

Vineyards Geelong 31%, Macedon Ranges 26%, Cardinia Ranges 16%, Yarra Valley 15%, Mornington Peninsula 7%, Gippsland 4%. Winemaking Fruit was handpicked and whole bunch pressed, then transferred to French barriques and hogsheads (15% new) for fermentation and maturation.

Youthful straw green, bright edge. Bouquet Intense and very expressive. Complex aromas of white flowers, lightly grilled nuts, earth, grapefruits. Opens with time in the glass to reveal more secondary complexities and a hint of reduction. Concentrated, balanced, complex chardonnay, showing its cooler origins. Grapefruit pith, citrus and floral flavours are complemented by more maritime flavours of melon, fig and pear. Oak and lees add complexity, tasty natural acidity ensures the palate finishes cleanly. Certainly the most complex chardonnay we have made to date, and very reflective of its origins. Food Match Crayfish with garlic butter. Moreton Bay bug, cuttlefish and orzo saffron broth.

Name a cool climate Victorian region - and chances are that this Shadowfax chardonnay uses some of its grapes. It works, too. Bulls-eye. Spot-on expression of chardonnay. Perfect application of cedary, creamy, milky oak - not too much, and not too little. Hits of grapefruity, peachy, defiantly varietal flavour. Textural and chalky through the finish. And enough length to satisfy. Easy to like/recommend/rave over. Rated : 92 Points Alcohol : 13% Price : $30 Drink : 2009 - 2012; By Campbell Mattinson; The Wine Front

A small winery taking tricks from the likes of Foster's and Constellation with this blend of Macedon Ranges/Geelong/Yarra Valley/Gippsland/Mornington Peninsula; the net result is an elegant and fine chardonnay with fruit in the white peach and grapefruit spectrum; lees maturation has substituted for oak. Screwcap. 13% alc. Rating 94 Points; Drink 2013 $30 Date Tasted Sep 09 James Halliday Wine Companion

A delicious cool climate Chardonnay. Expect smells of grapefruit and nectarine like fruit alongside some well proportioned and nicely knit oak. Meanwhile, in your mouth it’s soft, mineral textured, expansive and long. Serve it about 12°C and drink with chicken and leek pie. By Matt Skinner, The Age, Uncorked