2000 Chardonnay......Sold Out

Intentionally more European than Australian, with a complex bouquet, intense flavour and a wonderful texture and length. Unfiltered.

All grapes under this label are sourced exclusively from the Savaterre Vineyard in Beechworth. The wine was matured for approximately 2 years in the very best French oak barriques.


Tasting Notes:

Brilliant straw/green colour.

The bouquet is a complex and powerful meld of white peach/ pear, citrus blossom, cashew, grilled almonds, and some exotic spice from well integrated French Oak.

The palate is intense and savoury with a seamless stream of powerful fruit, grilled nuts, honeysuckle and spice. The oak while still evident is well integrated with such powerful fruit. The wine has a long and minerally finish that persists well after you finish. This wine will continue to improve for over 10 years.

The wine is targeted to be unique and to develop further in the glass. Very limited quantities were produced and it has been very enthusiastically received.

It may be possible to still taste this wine at certain restaurants (depending on stocks).
Please see our Dining page.

2001 Chardonnay .....Sold Out

More Meursault than Australia. Powerful as the 2000 but with an added dimension not seen before. This wine was bottled in November 2002 and was not dispatched till the cool of June 2003.

This powerful wine is just in its infancy and definitely needs the extra time in bottle. It will reward cellaring.

Tasting Notes:

Brilliant straw/ green.

The bouquet is rich and complex with well integrated aromas of lifted white peach, citrus blossom, honey and grilled nuts, some “ funk” creeping in providing a savoury matchstick / flinty finish.

The palate takes some time to open revealing opulent layers of perfectly ripe white peach and pear, citrus, oatmeal, nuts and spice. Powerful and rich without being cloying. Wonderful silky texture and seamless integration of French oak. Once again the finish is minerally and long.

The wine, like all those crafted at Savaterre, is targeted to be unique and to develop further in the glass.

2002 Chardonnay .....Sold Out

"Tremendously austere and yet tremendously intense. Minerally, toasty, lengthy and balanced, it's got everything exactly where you want it. This is a crackerjack wine. This is the mark of a champion. Drink 2005-2010. 95 points"

Campbell Mattinson, Winefront monthly. Nov/Dec 2003.

Close planted vines cropped at very low levels (less than a bottle of wine per vine) combined with a wonderful growing season produced the most intense, balanced and focused Savaterre chardonnay to date.

As usual the wines are made in an unhurried manner with wild yeasts, 100% natural malolactic, 19 months slow cool elevage in the very best French tight grain barriques and finally bottled without filtration. This attention to detail allows the wine to express its terroir without the winemakers fingerprints being obvious.


Tasting Notes:

Brilliant straw gold color with the usual green tinge framing the wine.

The bouquet is a rich balance of intensity and complexity. Initially austere it evolves to seduce you with aromas of white peach, grapefruit, lime blossom, praline, cashew and toasted hazelnuts combined with a mealy "dirt" , match stick complexity on the finish.

It is only on the palate that all this promise is revealed. Aromas combine to deliver an amazingly concentrated and intense flavour that continues to evolve and amplify as you swirl. Complexity and power combine with a beautifully integrated texture. Length, balance, complexity and power.

It's all there waiting to go forward and develop slowly to something I believe will be magnificent in 6 - 8 years time.