Brokenwood Indigo Vineyard Beechworth Chardonnay 2023
- 95
- $75
- Drink by: 2024-2032
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It is a very long time since this region had just one superstar performer and a number of wannabees. Now Beechworth has long proved itself as one of the world’s most thrilling sources of great Chardonnay. This latest addition will simply add yet more shine to the lustre. Whole bunch pressing, wild ferment in French oak, all of it new. The oak format is a mix of 500 litre puncheons and 228 litre barriques with nine months maturation. A stunning pale lemon hue, the nose offers hints of nutmeg and spices from the influence of the oak. Sublimely handled, it is evident but intriguing, rather than intrusive. Spices, figs, white peaches, cashews and stone fruits and layered and dense but with energy. Very good length, over which the intensity is maintained for the full journey. A really good Chardonnay. Drink for six to eight years.
Ken was born and bred in Brisbane, Queensland. He had a non-trendy, perfectly happy childhood, in a family convinced alcohol meant instant condemnation to Hades. But a break fishing on the Great Barrier Reef, and some good wine, started a serious obsession that eventually took over. It did not stop Ken being chastised later for drinking Pol champagne, disgusted he’d drink anything made by a Cambodian dictator. Now, Ken mostly writes on wine, champagne and spirits for various newspapers, magazines and books, but is perhaps best known for his work in The Courier Mail. He also has a little sideline writing on cigars, fishing, travel and food. When not writing, fly-fishing for trout in NZ or bonefish on the flats of Cuba, travelling or smoking cigars, he is no doubt following a variety of sporting teams – the occasionally glorious Queensland Reds rugby, the dysfunctional Washington Redskins, the dodgy Arsenal and especially revels in the world restored to its proper axis with the return of the Ashes to their rightful home.
