Giaconda Estate Vineyard Chardonnay 2017

"The Giaconda Chardonnays are the Montrachets, the Grand Crus of the Australian chardonnay landscape."  James Halliday

Giaconda, founded in 1982 by Rick Kinzbrunner, is one of the country’s great wine producers. The star of the show is the chardonnay, one of Australia’s greatest chardonnays, one of Australia's great wine treasures and Australia’s first real Grand Cru white wine.

"The sheer power and depth of this wine is unique, no other Australian chardonnay can rival it. Its balance of stone fruit, grilled nuts and citrussy acidity is impeccable, transforming into the extreme length of the palate. Will live forever." James Halliday

"A stellar year for chardonnay from an excellent growing season. Gold with a vivid green edge. Subtle aromatics of matchstick, white peach and nectarine combine with waxy lemon peel, wet stones and hazelnuts. A virtual cornucopia of salivating aromas and flavours. The palate has precision with ever present mineral notes that create a lip-smacking, tangy finish. This chardonnay has great tension and nerve – a wine for the purists!"  Giaconda

Erin Larkin reviews the 2017 Giaconda Estate Vineyard Chardonnay (7:00 into the video)

Expert reviews

"Tasted beside two stylistic extremes: the rambunctious 2019 and the sleeper 2018, this 2017 Chardonnay is the balancing act between the two. While less immediately exciting in terms of stars and lights, this forsakes the pinwheels of flavor of the other two for a patient, steady, powerful outlay across the palate. It never stops. It is restrained, classy, elegant and layered, but those descriptors undersell it - they don't do the wine justice. There's struck match and preserved lemon rind on the nose, and the palate is thick with salted stone fruit, crushed rocks, campfire embers, green tea and star anise. I'm relatively speechless after tasting three vintages of this wine side by side and can only say respectfully, that we are in the presence of greatness. Hush. It's New World Chardonnay at its absolute peak. Drink 2022-2042."  Erin Larkin, Wine Advocate - 98 points

"The sheer power and depth of this wine is unique, no other Australian chardonnay can rival it. Its balance of stone fruit, grilled nuts and citrussy acidity is impeccable, transforming into the extreme length of the palate. Will live forever. Drink by 2032." James Halliday, Halliday Wine Companion - 98 points and Special Value Wine  ★

"Medium to full yellow colour and a voluminous bouquet of chicken stock, toasty nuts, smoky sulfides and many other nuances. Full-bodied and extremely rich, with an impressive array of flavours loaded into a gutsy, power-packed wine. Such is the richness of fruit it seems almost sweet. An opulent wine, chock-a-block with flavour. Drink: 2019-2032."  Huon Hooke, The Real Review - 98 points

"A bold, rich and concentrated chardonnay with intense grilled-peach, lemon and flinty complexity, as well as toasted-hazelnut aromas. The palate has a very rich and powerful core of ripe fruit. Long, pithy drive to the fresh, flavorful finish. Drink or hold. Screw cap."  James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com - 97 points

"Giaconda is a big worked style of Chardonnay, which is not entirely my thing, but has its admirers. Sort of a 'muscle car' of the wine world, perhaps. Struck match, spiced oatmeal, grapefruit, lime, pineapple and nectarine, a little vanilla perfume. It’s glossy, cheese sticks, hazelnut and funky savoury flavour, sizzled butter, but a core of sizzling citrus acidity to go with it. Powerful. Texture is flinty and chalky, finish is tight, long and closes with slightly bitter green stalk, lime rind and grapefruit flavours lingering. It’ll become more mellifluous and composed as it ages, of course. Drink: 2021-2030+."  Gary Walsh, The Wine Front - 95 points

Awards

Special Value Wine – Halliday Wine Companion  ★ 

About the winery

"Giaconda vineyard was established by Rick Kinzbrunner, a mechanical engineer who became interested in wine in the early 1970's. Rick then spent the next ten years working in the industry, travelling and following his passion for wine. After a brief stint in New Zealand, he studied at Davis University in California and worked at some of the most respected wineries in the Napa and Sonoma Valleys (namely Stag's Leap, Simi and Matanzas Creek). In Europe he worked for the Moueix group in Bordeaux, co-owner of the fabled Chateau Petrus.

After returning to Australia in 1980 to take up a position as assistant winemaker at Brown Brothers in Milawa, Rick purchased land in the nearby Beechworth wine region - at the foothills of the beautiful North-East Victorian Alps. Planting commenced in 1982 and the property is now devoted solely to Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Shiraz. A separate planting of Nebbiolo has also been established close to the Beechworth township at Red Hill. Total area under vines at the Giaconda Estate Vineyard is now 4 hectares. Annual wine production is approximately 2,500 dozen bottles.

The Vineyards

Our Estate vineyard is managed sustainability and carefully according to environmental consciousness. Since 2018 we are now fully certified organic by the Bio Dynamic Research Institute (BDRI). The Australian Demeter Bio-Dynamic Method is a world leader in practices of ecological and sustainable farming.

At an altitude of 400+ metres (1,312 feet) the site and climate are influenced by the surrounding alpine valleys. The Chardonnay is planted on a relatively cool south-facing slope which is sheltered from the direct impact of the sun's rays. This results in a much slower ripening period, greater flavour complexity and natural acid levels. The Estate lies in a small valley which benefits from a light breeze much of the time; this is very effective in controlling disease.

Our Estate Vineyard Shiraz is planted on the amphitheatre block at the top of the property with a warm north-facing exposure. Warner Vineyard Shiraz is grown on a slightly higher elevation, 6.5km from the Beechworth township on ancient granite soils typical of the general area. These vines are also planted on a warm north-facing exposure.

The soil is 450 million year old granitic loam over decomposed gravel and clay. The clay is important in allowing sustained water-release to the vine roots; while the soil, being not too rich, is ideal for wine quality - lower yields are naturally regulated. The vines are drip irrigated in hotter years only when it is necessary to prevent vine stress.

The average rainfall is 800 mm annually, a little of which can be received during summer. Nights are generally cool with days being fairly warm, providing ideal conditions for slow ripening. Vintage begins in late February or early March, depending on the season. All grapes are hand-picked in the cool of the early morning before being processing at the winery on site. Cropping levels are approximately 2.5 tonnes per acre.

The Wine Making

Wine making should be subtle and always seek balance - this should never seek to dominate the Terroir or characteristics of any given vintage. Giaconda wines are hand-crafted according to basically a natural wine making process. To us this means indigenous yeasts are employed for fermentation, natural bacteria for Malolactic fermentation, French oak barrel ageing, minimal sulphur additions, and no filtration before bottling.

The winery, barrel maturation cave and bottling facility are all set up for gravity flow. This means the wines are very rarely pumped or manipulated mechanically. Instead they are gently moved by gravity or gas pressure during the entire wine making process.

In the case of Chardonnay, our fruit is hand picked, lightly crushed and then basket pressed - before being transferred to French oak barrels (approximately 30% new) for fermentation and ageing.

For the red wines, a combination of whole bunch and de-stemmed crushed fruit is transferred to large concrete tanks for fermentation. These wines remain on skins for an extended period to develop softer, finer tannins and more complexity; before being basket pressed and transferred to French oak barrels (up to 40% new in some cases) for ageing.

Our wines are aged in French oak for almost two years - deep underground in the granite maturation cave, which can be seen below. This cave offers optimal conditions for fermentation and ageing with a stable temperature of 16 degrees centigrade and naturally high humidity all year round."  Giaconda