Seppelt Jaluka Henty Chardonnay 2021

Immediately friendly and approachable with a sunny disposition that will win over most – if not all – chardonnay drinkers. For the price, winemaker Clare Dry has worked a lot of features into the wine from 100% barrel fermentation bringing a range of flavours and texture, to (almost) a full malolactic fermentation that helps to appease the region’s sometimes confronting high acidity. Ripe fruit opens the wine in yellow peach and melon with citrus and aromatic, apple blossom notes. Buttery and warm across the palate, smooth running all the way as fruit and fine-toasted French oak (35% new) work their way from the centre, before finishing with a lively, clean acidity and good length. Punches above its price-point with some pretty sophisticated winemaking.

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