864 Funder & Diamond Drive Block Chardonnay 2023

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A classic 864 Chardonnay release. Tightly coiled, it reveals over time, finishing with remarkable depth and length.

Wine Details

Region Yarra Valley

State Victoria

Wine Type White Wine

Variety Type Chardonnay

Vegan Friendly Yes

Alcohol Percentage 13.3%

Background

Our 864 range features exceptional wines from specific and single blocks, produced in small quantities and released in only the best years. An Oakridge 864 wine is terroir-driven. Made to demonstrate the importance of time and place with every bottle, and always a tribute to tradition, these wines are ready to drink now or cellar.

Tasting Notes

Bright straw with an electric hue. A zesty lift of kaffir lime leaf and pithy citrus leaps from the glass, joined by notes of gunflint, white nectarine and alpine mint. The layers continue to build with notes of grated ginger and wet river stones, while toasted almonds and ginger snap biscuit hint at subtle oak. The palate is bright and crystalline, revealing lemon drops, candied lime, grapefruit pith and white nectarine. Texture and crunch are key. Tightly coiled, it reveals more flavour and texture over time, finishing with remarkable depth and length. A classic 864 Chardonnay release.

Vineyard Notes

Funder & Diamond Vineyard. North facing at 240 metres above sea level. Close planted in the red volcanic soils of Wandin East in 1990 using the P58 clone and cropped at 6.0 t/Ha

Winemaker's Notes

All grapes hand harvested and sorted prior to whole bunch pressing directly to French oak puncheons for natural fermentation. 20% of the barrels were new. Post-fermentation, the wine was matured on its fermentation lees for 10 months in barrel followed by a further six months on lees in tank prior to bottling after a single filtration.

Vintage Notes

A vintage defined by cool, wet conditions, low crops and harvesting late into Autumn. The resulting wines have great depth of flavour and vibrant, balanced acidities. Flowering occurred in late October, fruit set in December and harvest on March 18th at 12.4° baume.

Product Reviews (3)

Halliday Wine Companion - 98pts

“From the Funder & Diamond vineyard, planted in Wandin East in ’90. The ’22 is the reigning Halliday Wine of the Year and this is, as you’d suspect, a worthy successor. With its bouquet of white nectarine, pink grapefruit and traces of sea spray and piercing, perfectly structured palate, this is more tightly coiled, at this stage, than the 864 Henk Chardonnay. It may prove to be more long lived, too. Those who have both will have a ton of fun comparing them over the next decade or more.” – Philip Rich

The Wine Front - 97pts

“Chardonnay for the win. This is just sensationally good. It’s powerfully fruited, powerfully complex and powerfully refreshing. That’s a combination for you. Peach, flint, chalk, green pineapple, crisp apple and mealy, cedar-y, smoky notes. It’s shows velocity, tension and calm in equal measure. On the finish it slings through to tomorrow. Nothing here is overdone and yet everything feels profound.” – Campbell Mattinson

Robert Parker Wine Advocate - 97pts

“The 2023 864 Single Block Release Funder & Diamond Drive Block Chardonnay is awesome. It’s nutty and gently reductive, saline and focused, with piercing intensity on the palate. It’s salty, it’s complex, it’s sleek, the flavor is palate-staining, excellent. This superb wine is really impressive. The fruit was sourced from the Funder and Diamond vineyard (Drive Block), from vines closely planted in the red volcanic soils of Wandin East to the P58 clone in 1990. It was handpicked, then whole-bunch pressed direct to French puncheons (20% new) for wild fermentation and 10 months of élevage, followed by another six months (blended) on the fine lees in tank. I love this wine, and it looks utterly magnificent here today. Yes! 13.3% alcohol, sealed under screw cap. Drink: 2025 – 2038.” – Erin Larkin