Silver Lining Chardonnay 2021

Sometimes the story behind a wine and its winemaker is in every way as riveting as the wine itself.

Marty Edwards and his family ran The Lane Vineyard in the Adelaide Hills, but his life took a hard left turn when he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 2012, just months after the birth of his daughter. He decided to embark on radical medical treatment. He also decided to create his own wine brand, Silver Lining. Love the name. The wines are pretty darn smart, too.

The 2021 Chardonnay combines the purity of Adelaide Hills fruit with some masterful oak, the result is a textural beauty with seamless line and length. Citrus, lime, stone fruits aplenty are stalwarts of Adelaide Hills chardonnay, but then it moves into a nougat, almond mealiness and texture that delves deeper into the oak and grape’s significant flavour reserves. A lively, complex interpretation of Hills’ chardonnay. Ready and willing to be opened and enjoyed right now.

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