2022 Giaconda Estate Vineyard Chardonnay

This is Australia’s quintessential benchmark and undisputed cult white: the Giaconda Estate Vineyard Chardonnay 2022. Mastercrafted by Rick Kinzbrunner from gravelly granite and clay slopes nestled in the foothills of the Victorian Alps in Beechworth, Giaconda stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the finest Grand Crus of Puligny- and Chassagne-Montrachet. Fermented spontaneously with native yeasts and aged underground in French oak barrels (around one-third new), this 2022 release exhibits breathtaking tension, crystalline focus, and power. The nose erupts with an intoxicating, multi-layered perfume of white nectarines, Meyer lemon curd, and green orchard apples, seamlessly intertwined with signature gunflint reduction, toasted hazelnuts, crushed river stone minerality, and subtle brioche spice. On the palate, it is prodigiously concentrated, chiseled, and crystalline, delivering a silken, textural mouthfeel coiled tightly around an electric spine of natural alpine acidity that culminates in an extraordinarily persistent, saline, and savory mineral finish.

Highlights

• Vintage: 2022

• Region/Appellation: Beechworth, Victoria, Australia

• Producer: Giaconda (Rick Kinzbrunner)

• Grape: 100% Chardonnay

• Style: Iconic, Flinty, Powerfully Mineral-Driven, Complex, and World-Class Cult Chardonnay

• Perfect for (food pairing): Pan-seared Moreton Bay bugs or marron in browned hazelnut butter, butter-poached lobster tail, steamed Coral Trout with ginger and scallions, classic roasted poultry with morel cream sauce, or premium sturgeon caviar on warm blinis. Its extraordinary mineral tension, flinty complexity, and rich palate weight also make it a magnificent partner for seared scallops, grilled glacier 51 toothfish, veal sweetbreads, or artisanal creamy cheeses such as Brillat-Savarin, triple cream Brie, or mature Comté.