2024 A. Rodda Baxendale Vineyard Chardonnay

Adrian Rodda’s Whitlands Chardonnay comes off a high, windswept vineyard now owned by the Dal Zotto family, about 600 metres up in the King Valley. It’s cool, rugged country - red volcanic soils and crisp mornings that give fruit with drive and natural acidity.

The fruit is all hand-picked fruit, straight to French oak (a third new). It sits on lees for a year, picking up texture and weight without losing that fine, stony edge that makes this site so distinctive.

It’s not a big, showy Chardonnay. It’s clean, detailed and powerful, with flavours of grapefruit, apple and toasted hazelnut carried by a long, mineral finish. If you know Rodda’s wines, you’ll know what to expect, this is a classy bottle of Chardonnay and one of the best $50 Chardonnays we've tasted in some time.

96 points
"Sparks and crackles in pure, cool-climate class. Some precision winemaking on show with quality fruit that simply comes alive in the glass... So stylish right through to the lingering, gentle hazelnut-oak-laced finish."
- Jeni Port (Halliday Wine Companion)