Howard Park Granite Ridge Great Southern Chardonnay 2020

The Burch family loves its geology. It is always particular about acknowledging the bit of dirt where the Howard Park wines are sourced. Granite Ridge could not be any clearer about the vineyard site. “Forty kilometres from the coast, our Great Southern vineyard was once an offshore granite island,” notes the back label. Granite is good for Chardonnay. It brings a natural, effortless structure to the wine and, often, a touch of mineral ‘tang’ or mouthfeel. This is very much in evidence here. Structure is everything in this wine; it’s tight, firm in acidity and ripe in citrus, grilled grapefruit, straw and spice. Smoky oak makes an appearance on the palate. It’s not shy, but the wine is ultimately better for it as it joins with leesy almond meal and brioche to create a more complex and interesting whole.

Jeni Port

Wine critic at Winepilot

Jeni Port is one of Australia’s top wine communicators. Based in Melbourne, Jeni created the first wine column in the (then) Sun News-Pictorial before moving over to The Age and becoming that paper’s longest-serving wine writer. Over the years she has written for most Australian wine magazines and these days calls WinePilot home. She is also a Tasting Panel member on the Halliday Wine Companion. She was named Wine Communicator of the Year and Legend of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival in 2014 and in 2018 Legend of the Vine. She is a founding board member of Australian Women In Wine and is the co-deputy chair of Australia’s Wine List of the Year Awards and China’s Wine List of the Year Awards.

Wine writer and critic