A.Rodda Willow Lake Yarra Valley Chardonnay 2015

The 2015 vintage was the fourth year of Adrian Rodda's 'The Chardonnay Project'. When Adrian moved to Beechworth in 2010, the primary focus was to make one Chardonnay from the oldest vines in the region, The Smiths Vineyard. However, his intention was always to make multiple single vineyard Chardonnays from different geographical regions. Given Adrian's history and the suitability of the region for the variety, the region of origin for his second Chardonnay was obvious, the Yarra Valley.

"The palate was lean, balanced and elegant with beautiful fruit and lovely acidity."  Tuesday Blind Tastings 

Adrian strongly believes the old adage that the best vineyards are inherently suited to particular varieties and result in the great wines of the world. Therefore, his aim was to find another vineyard, like Smiths in Beechworth, with mature vines, in a cool site and real pedigree. In the upper reaches of the Yarra Valley, he found just that. A section of Willowlake Vineyard's Parkinsons Road block was planted in 1979 in brown gradational soils over clay at an elevation of 270 metres above sea level. Unlike the majority of the Willowlake Vineyard, the Parkinsons Road block has a southerly aspect, with a consistent gradient across the entire block.

Adrian wanted each wine to be an expression of the site and the region whilst carrying the same winemaking thumbprint. Therefore, he went to great lengths to ensure both wines were vinified in the same manner. The 2015 Smiths Vineyard and 2015 Willow Lake Vineyard Chardonnays were both hand picked and pressed to 500 litre French oak puncheons (36% first use) without clarification or racking for non-temperature controlled fermentation. The cooperages, oak format (puncheons) and barrel age were exactly the same for both wines. Malolactic fermentation was not encouraged so as to preserve freshness and natural acidity. The wines were rested on lees for 10 months prior to bottling.

Expert reviews

"White peach, melon and grapefruit are backed by complex wild yeast and barrel fermentation providing the background of funk. Intense and superbly balanced, it drives on and on with grapefruit pith and the finest of acid lines. Of the single vineyard releases this vintage, Willow Lake is the clear favourite. Drink by: 2025."  James Halliday, Halliday Wine Companion - 96 points and Special Value Wine  ★

"Straw colour with a green tinge. Grapefruit, white peach, honeycomb and butterscotch on the nose. The palate was lean, balanced and elegant with beautiful fruit and lovely acidity."  Tuesday Blind Tastings - 96 points

Awards

Special Value Wine – Halliday Wine Companion  ★  

 About the winery

Adrian Rodda has been involved in making wine since 1998, spending more than a decade at Oakridge Wines in the Yarra Valley. At Oakridge he worked with David Bicknell and was involved in the development of the superb Oakridge 864 Chardonnay, his final contribution to 864 coming in 2009. At the start of 2010 Adrian moved to Beechworth in the North East of Victoria.  Adrian was a long-term friend with Mark Walpole, viticulturist and winemaker at Fighting Gully Road. Serendipitously the lease for the Smith vineyard, planted in 1978 and the oldest vineyard in the region, became available. Adrian and Mark decided to share the lease.

Although Adrian's primary focus was to make Chardonnay from the Smiths Vineyard, his intention was always to make multiple single vineyard Chardonnays from different geographical regions. In 2012, Adrian commenced the "Chardonnay Project” whereby he sources grapes from the Willow Lake Vineyard in the Yarra Valley and vinifies them in parallel with the Smiths Vineyard Chardonnay. In 2017 a third single vineyard Chardonnay was added, produced from the Baxendale Vineyard at Whitlands, planted in 1985 at 600m above sea level.

Since 2011, the range has also included a Bordeaux Blend, based around Cabernet Sauvignon also sourced from the Smiths Vineyard, and a Tempranillo from the Aquila Audax Vineyard, Adrian's first foray with a Mediterranean variety.