2022 Crittenden Zumma Chardonnay, Mornington Peninsula

There is energy and life evident from the moment you engage with the perfumes on the nose. The fruit was hand-picked and then whole bunch pressed to a combination of one and two-year-old French barriques with wild yeast fermentation. Most went through malolactic fermentation bringing a textural feel while retaining the crisp savoury acid. The palate is finely balanced with a slightly saline savouriness that is sustained and long. Impressive Chardonnay from old vines at Mornington. Drink 2024 to 2032.

95 points Ray Jordan for Wine Pilot, November 2024

80% malolactic fermentation in 60% new oak for 11 months. Butter toast, tinned peach and cut pineapple slices. Baked anzac cookies and toast muesli. A feast of morning pastries. Fruit is front and centre with a swathe of toasty oak spice. Vanilla biscotti, nutmeg and cinnamon sugar. A lovely lemon cheesecake creaminess, with fresh acidity carrying the final tune. This has the intensity we see from further west with the marine sea spray and citrus core of Victoria. A really good representation of what Mornington can do. The balance of modern day Australian Chardonnay is printed all over this. Drink now and will cellar another 3 years. Serve with battered fish and chicken salt chips still in the paper. Drink 2024 to 2027.

95 points Shanteh Wale for Wine Pilot, November 2024

Crittenden was established in Dromana in 1982 by Garry Crittenden — at a time when planting those first vines effectively doubled the total vineyard area on the Mornington Peninsula. His son Rollo returned home after years making wine abroad and now leads the winemaking, bringing a broader perspective to a place he knows intimately. The Dromana vineyard is farmed sustainably without synthetic inputs, with a focus on building natural resilience in the vines over time.

The name Zumma was a childhood nickname for Garry and Margaret Crittenden's daughter Zoe — affectionately known in the family as Zoe Zoe Zum Zum. It now sits on the label of a limited bottling from some of their oldest and most treasured vines.

The 2022 Zumma Chardonnay was whole bunch pressed and fermented with wild yeast in a mix of new and one to two-year-old French oak barriques, with 80% malolactic fermentation through winter and 11 months on lees before bottling.

This wine that has opened up considerably with time. What earlier showed as oak-forward has settled into something more harmonious and complex. Stone fruit, nectarine and lemon zest on the nose with toasted hazelnut, spice and a saline mineral thread. The palate is well-proportioned and elegant with precise acidity running under a creamy, textured mid-palate, drawing to a long, savoury finish.

The wine's stone fruit richness and saline edge goes beautifully with carefully prepared cooking that relies on the quality of the ingredient: pan-fried snapper with a lemon and caper butter, seared scallops with cauliflower purée and brown butter, or a roast chicken with herbs.

A wine that has found its balance and is drinking beautifully now. Drink now through 2030.