Nestled in the mountains of northeastern Victoria, just outside the picturesque town of Beechworth, lays the Savaterre vineyard. The site was “discovered“ in 1996 by Keppell Smith, owner and winemaker, after an expansive search through Australia’s quality wine regions. The mild summer days, cool climate elevation combined with the rolling foothills of the Victorian Alps was the magic “terroir” combination sought by Keppell.

The 2022 Chardonnay is the best chardonnay I have ever made. It was a stunning vintage. Warm days to ensure flavour ripeness followed by cool evenings to help retain acid. Rain at the right time to avoid disease and a long cool finish to the season to impart the subtle flavours we desire. I am so incredibly pleased and proud of these wine. Elegance, freshness, complexity, texture, plenitude and precision are the descriptors for this vintage. The result is incredible. I do not know where to start with this wine. It is such a complete and complex tapestry of aromas, flavours and texture. It’s the rare combination of power and amplitude combined with elegance, freshness, precision and tension. The aroma distracts you from your everyday thoughts. It grabs you and keeps your attention. A subtle flint framing ethereal aromas of ripe grapefruit, curry leaf, preserved lemon, ginger, stone fruit, allspice and fennel. Even as a young wine its potential is so obvious. Once tasted I am transported. This is a wine that takes you on a journey of power balanced with finesse, complexity and extraordinary length. Constantly evolving and changing. Beautifully defined by its markedly tensing acidity and length. Prodigious from the word go. While currently in the hot flush of youth, this wine will age beautifully for 20 years. If consuming under 5 years please decant for at least an hour for maximum enjoyment. Will continue to improve over the next 8 – 15 years. Keppell Smith

A little struck match and funk, pink grapefruit and pear, spicy oak, some ginger, floral perfume sitting quietly behind that, waiting to unfurl. Intense, fine flinty texture and chalky grip, it’s restrained, but the power through the palate, and the length is quite something. Sappy and alive. Here’s a Chardonnay of quiet power and finesse. It’s benchmark stuff. Alcohol: 13.3%; Price: $120; Drink: 2024-2033+; Rated: 97 Points; Gary Walsh; The Wine Front