864 Henk Aqueduct Block Chardonnay 2023

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A wine where we speak in contradictions - generous yet refined, powerful but elegant.

Wine Details

Region Yarra Valley

State Victoria

Wine Type White Wine

Variety Type Chardonnay

Vegan Friendly Yes

Alcohol Percentage 13.4%

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

Vivid straw with a slight green edge to the hue. An intense lift of grapefruit and exotic citrus aromas burst out of the glass. Flecks of flint and nougat complement the exuberant array of fruits on display. Subtle toasted hazelnuts add to the complex set of aromas, enticing the consumer for more. On the palate, an explosion of fruit flavours are reflective of the aromas. Polished white peaches and grapefruit flesh are incredibly vivid. Specks of finger lime add contrast to the succulent experience. A very fluid journey across the palate completes the tactile experience where not a hair is out of place. A wine where we speak in contradictions - generous yet refined, powerful but elegant.

Vineyard Notes

Henk Vineyard, Aqueduct Block, North-facing at 260 meffes above sea level, Planted in the red volcanic soils of Woori Yallock in 2008 using the Dijon clone 95 and cropped at 4.6t/Ha.

Winemaker's Notes

All grapes hand-picked and sorted prior to whole bunch pressing direct to French oak puncheons for natural fermentation. 20% of the barrels were new. Post-fermentation, the wine was manired 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 filffation.

Vintage Notes

A vintage defined by cool, wet conditions, low crops and harvesting late into autumn. The resulting wines have great depth offlavour and vibrant, balanced acidities. Flowering occurred in late October, fruit set in December and harvest on March 17th at 12.6° baume.

Product Reviews (3)

Halliday Wine Companion - 98pts

“From the highest section at Henk, around 260m. Whole-bunch pressed to 500L French puncheons (20% new), wild-yeast fermented, matured for 10 months on lees. With its pure and precise bouquet of perfectly ripened white peaches and pears, confit lemon and just a hint of pure acacia honey, this is unmistakably great from the first whiff. Beautifully balanced and structured, this flows effortlessly across the palate. Absolute top of the tops and destined to be long lived.” – Philip Rich

The Wine Front - 96pts

“The complete chardonnay. Body, flavour, texture, length and X-factor, all set within a neat, immaculate frame. For pure exacting quality this is as good as anything anywhere. It tastes of tonic-like herbs, white peach, citrus, woodsmoke, oatmeal, grapefruit, steel and cumin, and while I wouldn’t call it either flinty or reductive there’s just a smidgen of something extra there, the wind catching the bride’s veil and making it flutter. I could marvel at this wine all day; it’s brilliant.” – Campbell Mattinson

Robert Parker Wine Advocate - 95+pts

“The 2023 864 Aqueduct Block Henk Vineyard Chardonnay hails from Woori Yallock. Planted in 2008, with a north-facing exposition at 260 meters in elevation, the vineyard has red volcanic soils that support the low-cropping Dijon clone 95 at 4.6 tonnes per hectare. In the winery, the fruit is whole-bunch pressed direct to French puncheons for a wild ferment (20% new). The wine then spent 10 months on the fine lees in barrel, with a further six months’ élevage after being blended in tank, still on the lees. Aromatically, it leads with white stone fruit and exotic spice, shades of fennel and anise, wet rose and white pepper. On the palate, the wine is intensely concentrated, with the phenolic tension in the wine both chalky and structural at once. If ever there was a wine that begged for more time in bottle, it would be this. All the hallmarks are here for a graceful future, but if you choose to drink it now, a decant will help you enormously. 13.4% alcohol, sealed under screw cap. Drink: 2025 – 2038.” – Erin Larkin