2024 The Wanderer Macclesfield Chardonnay

The 2024 Macclesfield Chardonnay is a new addition to The Wanderer lineup and a pretty sharp debut at that. It comes off a north-facing vineyard in the Upper Yarra – red volcanic soil, clone 96 Chardonnay, about 250m up – and it’s got all the hallmarks of that cool, elevated end of the valley.

Whole bunch pressed and run straight to barrel the next day with full solids. Wild fermented, no stirring, no new oak, just left to take its time and find its groove. It’s a really calm, unfussed kind of Chardonnay – subtle fruit, some lemon peel and white stone, with a fine, mineral edge and good shape through the finish.

Feels like a wine that doesn’t try too hard, and that’s the charm. Nicely judged, quietly complex, and well worth getting to know.

94 points
"It tastes of chalk, lemon, nectarine, white peach, honey and grapefruit, with tonic-like characters mingling with oatmeal and flint through the finish."
- Campbell Mattinson (The Wine Front)