A. Rodda Chardonnay Masterclass Pack

• 2024 A. Rodda Smith's Vineyard Beechworth Chardonnay
• 2024 A. Rodda Baxendale Vineyard Chardonnay
• 2024 A. Rodda Willow Lake Vineyard Chardonnay
  

2024 A. Rodda Smith's Vineyard Beechworth Chardonnay

Adrian Rodda has a real knack for Beechworth Chardonnay, and the Smith Vineyard is the heart of it all. This site sits at 550 metres on granitic soils, which always gives the fruit a serious backbone. While he makes a few different expressions of Chardy, this has evolved into Adrian’s flagship wine.

We sat down to taste through the new lineup last week and the whole set of 2024's legitimately blew us away. It was a fantastic vintage in Beechworth, and you can really feel that extra level of power and concentration in the glass.

It’s a bit of a sleeper at first, so give it some air to move. It starts with hints of flint, nutmeg, and fennel before opening up into white nectarine and citrus peel. The palate has heaps of stuffing but stays incredibly poised. You get that lovely mealy, nutty complexity through the middle, held together by a fresh, citrusy drive. The persistence and length is super impressive.

This is world-class Chardonnay that shows exactly why Adrian is at the top of his game right now.

97 points
"This is a brilliant chardonnay that delivers its greatness with ease and calm"
- Gabrielle Poy (The Real Review)

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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)

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2024 A. Rodda Willow Lake Vineyard Chardonnay

Adrian Rodda might be synonymous with Beechworth these days, but he’s never lost his touch in the Yarra Valley. This comes from the Parkinson’s Road block at Willow Lake - a special little south-facing patch planted back in 1979. Because it’s a bit cooler and sits on those older vines, you get a version of Yarra Chardonnay that’s incredibly poised and precise.

We tasted this last week and it’s a total class act. Adrian uses 500-litre French oak puncheons here to build some curves, but he’s kept it fresh by skipping the malolactic fermentation. It spent a full year resting on its lees, which gives it that classic, nutty weight and a silky mouthfeel that fans of his style will recognise immediately.

You’ll find plenty of white nectarine and grapefruit, but there’s a savoury, saline edge to it that we love. As always with Adrian's Chardonnays it feels tightly coiled and energetic, with structure and acid at the heart of the wine.

It’s drinking beautifully right now if you like that zesty, nervous energy, but it'll age like a dream.

95 points
"Offers Yarra Valley elegance with an impressive complexity of fruit... This is svelte, sophisticated, with warm texture and fresh acidity. Yes, the structure allows for more ageing. Can you wait?"
- Jeni Port (Halliday Wine Companion)

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