2024 Philip Shaw No. 11 Chardonnay, Orange

No. 11s are slow burners that reward patience in the glass. With time, the nose starts showing aromas of baked peach and lemon curd, backed up by notes of toasted spice and vanilla. These continue onto the restrained yet mouth-filling palate, the generous fruit kept in check by a strong line of cool-climate acidity and some pleasant chewiness.

Pour early and enjoy with pan-seared snapper dressed with a ginger, garlic and spring onion hot oil, or slow-roasted pork belly with a light dusting of five-spice.

More about this wine

No11 was named after the original Koomooloo vineyard block that made this wine. In more recent years, and also in 2024, blocks 6 and 12 have come to anchor this estate blend.

The fruit was handpicked and fermented with indigenous yeasts in French oak barriques of which 10% were new. The wine was allowed full malolactic conversion, and was lees stirred occasionally during the winter months. The wine spent a total of 20 months in the barrels.

About this producer

Philip Shaw Wines was founded by Philip Shaw, twice International Winemaker of the Year and former chief winemaker at Rosemount and Southcorp. The home Koomooloo Vineyard is located in cool-climate Orange at 900 metre elevation on volcanic red loam over limestone.

Philip’s son Daniel, trained across wineries in Burgundy, Montepulciano and Chianti, now leads the winemaking. The European influence is audible in the wines: restrained, site-driven and built for the table rather than the show bench. The three tiers, the Number Series, Character Series and Misfits, give the range breadth without diluting the house philosophy.