Brokenwood Indigo Vineyard Chardonnay 2021

Beechworth can’t be far off earning a reputation for Chardonnay as prestigious as that of the Yarra Valley and Mornington if recent tastings from the region are anything to go by. This wine is a case in point. The fruit for this stunner comes from a Beechworth vineyard planted in 1999. The 20+ year old vines are producing fruit so fine and elegant that I expect many might mistake this for premier cru Burgundy in a blind tasting. The fruit aromas are pristine and delicate – grapefruit, lemon zest and white peach. Barrel fermented in 30% new oak shows up as a silky vanilla-scented cream. In the background is a lovely fresh hay and river pebble minerality. Such brightness on the palate with lifted pink grapefruit slices and lots of white nectarine; actually that undersells it, it’s a whole orchard of gently ripening stone fruit. Vibrant acidity and a delicate seashell salinity promise this has a long and remarkable life ahead of it.

Nicole Bilson

Wine Critic at Winepilot

Nicole loves wine. So much so that she gave up a successful career in Pharmacy, perfected her spitting technique, and moved from sunny Queensland to the wine-drenched laneways of Melbourne. Stints in hospitality, wineries, retail, sales and marketing filled the next few years while Nicole built her knowledge and searched for the right path. She completed the Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET) Diploma in 2016 and became a certified WSET Educator the following year. She now juggles a number of roles including teaching people about wine, curating wines lists for restaurants and bars, judging in Australian wine shows and, of course, writing. In 2016 she won the Negociants Working With Wine writing award and has since contributed to Gourmet Traveller WINE, Halliday Wine Companion Magazine and Nourish Magazine.

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