WIRRA WIRRA THE 12TH MAN CHARDONNAY 2024

Trophy for Best in Show – Decanter World Wine Awards 2025
Gold Medal & 97/100 – Decanter World Wine Awards 2025

Winning a 'Best in Show' Trophy at the Decanter World Wine Awards is no small achievement. DWWA remains the world’s largest and most influential wine competition. This year, wines from 57 countries were evaluated by 248 top international experts, including 22 Master Sommeliers and 72 Masters of Wine – the most in the competition’s history. From the 18,000+ wines judged, this came out in the top 0.3% and was awarded as one of the Top 50 "Best in Show" wines.

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."