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NZ-Wide
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Buy OnlineTrophy for Best in Show – Decanter World Wine Awards 2025
Gold Medal & 97/100 – Decanter World Wine Awards 2025
Winery notes (2024 Vintage)
"Our late founder Greg Trott, saw the game of cricket as the most noble of pursuits. As a youth, he even built his own concrete pitch at the family farm to emulate his heroes. Trott envisaged wearing the famous baggy green cap of the Australian team – if only to carry the drinks as 12th man. And if the drinks tray sported our Adelaide Hills chardonnay, Trott would have been warmly welcomed at any cricket fixture.
Lemon curd and white nectarine with hints of ginger and white florals. Layers of glossy, silken, creamy texture are enriched with savoury roasted cashews, crispy tarte tartin pastry and woodsy spices. Fermented and matured in French oak for eight months, the majority in 500L puncheons with 22% of barrels being their first use.
Handpicked grapes were whole bunch pressed and the free run component of the juice filled to French oak for spontaneous, wild fermentation. Upon completion of primary ferment, all barrels were tasted weekly to monitor the increasing complexity and malolactic activity as lees stirring was introduced. Over eight months in oak, the majority of barrels remained unsulfured on lees however some were sulphured at various stages through maturation to capture natural acidity and fruit brightness."
DWWA Judges' Comments (2024 Vintage)
"Adelaide Hills Chardonnay has made five appearances in our Best in Show selection, one more than Western Australia’s Margaret River has notched up; these are clearly landmark regions not just in national but also global terms for Chardonnay-lovers. The struck-match note so prized in Australia is apparent here — but subtly so; look out for a sweetly leafy charm, too, and a soft creaminess from finely judged barrel-fermentation. It hasn’t had long in bottle yet, so its aromatic harmony and seamlessness was another factor in seducing our panels. You could call it mouthfilling in terms of texture and flavour expression but relatively delicate and light on its feet, by contrast, in terms of weight and alcohol charge. These vineyards are indeed ‘up in the Hills’, remember, where ripeness is neither assured nor rapid. The wine’s grain and finesse reflect a full season on the vine – and its producer’s careful harvesting and handling techniques."
Reviews for previous vintages below…
93/100 Stuart Knox, The Real Review, September 2024 (2023 Vintage)
"Pale lemon colour with lifted aromas of white peach, bacon fat and struck flint. Beautiful freshness and tension as it flows long across the palate. Acidity carries it well, highlighting white stone fruit, lemon curd and smoky nutty complexities. Finishes with a crispness that keeps you coming back."
92/100 JamesSuckling.com, October 2024 (2023 Vintage)
"Lush and inviting aromas of hazelnuts, lemon confit, shortbread and wet stones. The palate is medium-bodied with focused acidity, a textural mouthfeel and notes of Fuji apples, nectarines, sea spray and orange blossoms. A very generous wine from a cool vintage."
95/100 Ray Jordan, WinePilot.com, December 2023 (2022 Vintage)
"This is one of the best and certainly most complex examples of this always pleasing offering from Wirra. It was handpicked and all wild fermented using 500l puncheons. Savoury notes with a trace of struck match complexity weaves into the palate. A slightly chalky limestone character influences its linear shape in the mouth. A lick of citrus on the finish completes an excellent wine at great value for this quality."
95/100 IWC Judges' Comments (2022 Vintage)
"Attractive struck match, apples and confit lime nose. Incredible intensity, saline palate with peach skin and red apples. Creamy complexity with a lingering finish."
94/100 International Wine & Spirits Competition 2024 (2022 Vintage)
"Flint, biscuit and fruit on the nose. Concentrated peach fruit and generous vanilla on the palate, well balanced by tangy acidity. Crisp and broad with a nice bitterness. Astounding."
94/100 Jamie Goode, WineAnorak.com (2022 Vintage)
"Lenswood and Piccadilly. Hand picked, whole bunch pressed, cloudy juice to puncheons, wild ferment. This is bright and lively with powerful citrus fruit and some complex meal and toast notes. Real energy with fruit purity and keen acidity. Such a bracing style with real precision."
