2022 Mac Forbes Little Yarra Vineyard Chardonnay

Little Yarra is the youngest of Mac’s single-vineyard Chardonnay sites, planted in 2009 down at Gladysdale in the southern end of the Valley. It’s also the earliest to be picked, with warm air drifting through the valley and surrounding forest adding both ripeness and moisture. Clay loam soils here tend to give Chardonnay a rounder feel compared with the tauter, higher sites in the range.

The 2022 season kept yields low thanks to a wet winter and spring, but the fruit that came through carried plenty of depth. Fermentation ran on wild yeasts in old oak, with ten months on lees before bottling – nothing added or taken away.

In the glass it shows a touch more weight than Mac’s other Chardonnays. Stone fruit and citrus are supported by hints of honey, nut and flint, the palate supple yet still cut with acidity. There’s length and balance, but also an openness that makes it easy to enjoy now. A few years in the cellar will no doubt add more layers.