2023 Audrey Wilkinson Winemaker’s Selection Chardonnay, Hunter Valley

Made from hand-picked fruit from 40-year-old vines at the front of the property and lightly whole-bunch pressed before fermentation and maturation in old French puncheons. Lees contact enhances palate texture. Excellent variety integrity with good palate weight and flow. Oak accents on the nose and palate, plus a little flintiness and a touch of spice.

92 points Toni Paterson MW winecompanion.com.au

Audrey Wilkinson, established in 1866, is one of the Hunter Valley’s most historic and picturesque estates, named after the pioneering vigneron who planted vines on the Brokenback Mountain foothills. The winery’s elevated vineyards benefit from cooling breezes, abundant sunshine, and the region’s ancient volcanic and sandy loam soils, which give Chardonnay a combination of richness, freshness, and mineral drive. The Winemaker’s Selection range showcases premium parcels of fruit with the estate’s signature focus on elegance and varietal purity, using careful vineyard selection and precise winemaking to create a wine that reflects the Hunter’s unique character.

The Audrey Wilkinson Winemaker’s Selection Chardonnay has a pale straw colour with green highlights and an inviting bouquet of white peach, nectarine, and lemon zest, layered with notes of cashew, flint, and a touch of vanilla from French oak maturation. The palate is medium-bodied and finely textured, offering ripe citrus and stone fruit flavours balanced by fresh acidity and a gentle creamy mouthfeel from extended lees contact. The oak is well integrated, adding subtle spice and structure without overpowering the fruit. The finish is long, mineral-edged, and refreshingly clean.

This Chardonnay pairs beautifully with grilled snapper and lemon butter, roast chicken with thyme, seared scallops, or a salad of pear, rocket, and parmesan. While drinking well now for its vibrant fruit and balance, it will develop greater complexity over the next 5 to 7 years, gaining nutty, toasty depth with bottle age.