Small Wonder Auburn Tasmanian Chardonnay 2023

This is not a loud Chardonnay – Tasmania rarely, if ever, does loud – and so there is a delicacy observed which should not be lost to being chilled to near frozen. So, don’t. Aromatic citrus blossom scents, white peach, nectarine, grapefruit, sea spray and toasty oak light up the aroma. It follows nicely on to the palate where citrus, apple, pear, quince, stone fruits and a splash of spice flow gently. The wine’s youth is still obvious, and oak – the wine saw 30% new French oak – is more of a feature at the moment. That said, there is a pure expression of fruit with some nicely judged grip and leesy density in play, together with a minerality that contributes to a crisp palate. A saline-grapefruit pith tartness to close gets the lips smacking. NOTE: This new Auburn series is sourced from Tasmania and not the wine village of the same name in the Clare Valley.

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