2025 Gembrook Hill Chardonnay, Yarra Valley

The first Gembrook Hill Chardonnay since '23 and well worth the wait. Pure-fruited aromas of white peach, white flowers, spice and a little cashew. Excellent intensity of flavour through the mid-palate, with a fine, even and very long acid line. A joy to drink now, and a joy to drink six years from now. Drink 2026 to 2032.

97 points Special Value Philip Rich for Halliday Wine Companion, May 2026

This release is reticent but it has excellent fruit power and the structure to match. It will unfurl, and it will be beautiful. It tastes of citrus, fennel, nectarine, tonic water, forest herb notes and cedar, with grilled peach characters murmuring in the background. It’s all there. It’s just a matter of waiting for the curtains to open.

94+ points Campbell Mattinson for Winefront, May 2026

Gembrook Hill is one of the oldest vineyards in the Upper Yarra subregion, founded in 1983 by Ian and June Marks after a fine combed search of Victoria's wine regions for the right place for what Ian had in mind: cool-climate wine in an old-world mould. The hilly amphitheatre they found in the Upper Yarra is on red volcanic loam soil and enjoys a north-easterly aspect. Ian passed away in 2017, and his work is now carried forward by June and son Andrew, who returned home after years of experiencing vintages across Burgundy, Languedoc, Spain and California. The low yielding vineyard is hand pruned and harvested.

The Chardonnay vines at Gembrook Hill are planted in a cool corner of the Yarra Valley where the growing season runs long and slow. Whole bunch pressed, wild yeast fermented with solids and aged in old large format French oak. The approach has resulted in a Yarra Chardonnay that compares nicely with good Chablis yet with a story of its own.

White peach, citrus and a thread of fennel on the nose, with cedar and a faint grilled stone fruit note in the background. The palate has real intensity and fine, even acidity pulling a very long finish. It is drinking beautifully now, but the structure is there to carry it comfortably through the better part of a decade. The 2025 is a wine that will reward patience.

Give it a couple of years before enjoying it on Bastille Day  the wine will see you through the whole menu with Saint-Jacques-style scallops, roast chicken with tarragon butter, and finishing with aged Comté.