Helen's Hill Estate Breachley Block Single Vineyard Chardonnay 2020

Helen's Hill is a 150 acre property in Coldstream with some of the finest views of the Yarra Valley. The Chardonnay is sourced from vines from Breachley block, a patch of northeast facing Chardonnay vines that are the oldest in the vineyard. The vines were planted in 1984, 13 years before the rest of the vineyard, and produce exceptional fruit at low yields. The result is a beautiful cool climate chardonnay that is one of the best value Yarra Valley chardonnays year in and year out.

"A striking, high-quality chardonnay that is as intense as it is long, with a layered palate of grapefruit and white stone fruit, stiletto acidity lingering on the back palate and aftertaste."  James Halliday

"Bright pale straw colour with an intense bouquet of stone fruit and struck match. The palate follows the nose, leading with citrus and lemon. the vibrant acidity of this wine it it’s youth displays the hallmarks of the cooler 2020 vintage. Subtle touches of french oak play around the edges of this wine to provide structure and balance. The oak influence combines nicely with MLF to provide a long finish and creamy mouthfeel. 

The fruit is 100%  hand picked at harvest. It is then gently pressed into tank where it settles before being transferred into our finest French oak puncheons for primary fermentaion in barrel. No innoculation is required as our wild vineyard yeasts are all that is necesarry to complete the ferment.  We use a mixture of new and old oak (30% new). The wine is allowed to complete 25% malolactic ferment to add complexity and mouthfeel. After nine months in barrel the wine is lightly filtered and bottled."  Helen's Hill

Expert reviews

"Hand-picked fruit from a single northeast-facing estate block, whole-bunch fermented in French puncheons (30% new, the balance 1-2yo); 40% mlf in barrel; bottled January ’21. A striking, high-quality chardonnay that is as intense as it is long, with a layered palate of grapefruit and white stone fruit, stiletto acidity lingering on the back palate and aftertaste. Drink by 2032."  James Halliday, Halliday Wine Companion - 96 points and Special Value Wine ★ 

Awards

Special Value Wine – Halliday Wine Companion  ★ 

About the winery

In 1997, the Nalder and McIntosh families purchased a 150 acre property in Coldstream with some of the finest views of the Yarra Valley and replanted the existing orchard as a vineyard. Today 110 acres are under vine.

The story of Helen's Hill began long before a vine was ever planted in Coldstream. It's a story of two families with a shared love of farming and wine. Having been dragged away from the land to careers in medicine and finance, they always yearned to return to a life they loved. So when they inspected a property now known as Helen's Hill Estate in 1996, they decided it was too good of an opportunity to pass up.

The former owner John Frazer, a businessman working in Collins Street, proposed marriage in the 1950s to a young lady by the name of Helen. Helen agreed but on one condition; John had to buy a farm as Helen longed for a life on the land. John bought land in the Yarra Valley and the couple lived on the farm and started a family. Tragically, Helen was diagnosed with cancer and passed away, leaving John and two very young children to carry on. While showing Allan Nalder and Andrew McIntosh around the estate some 40 years later, John recalled a number of incidents – "this is where Helen bogged the tractor", "this is where Helen planted our first apple tree" and "this is where Helen…" At the completion of the inspection when they were standing atop the highest hill enjoying the views of the Yarra Valley, John recalled that in her last weeks Helen would love nothing more than to sit on this hill and look out over the sweeping farmland. He said, "This was Helen's Hill."

The new owners had a Helen in the family too, so the name 'Helen's Hill' seemed like the perfect name for their vineyard and winery.

Helen's Hill specialize in Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. 65 acres of pinot noir are planted to MV6, 114, 115 and a Pommard clone, while 16 acres of chardonnay are planted to PEN58, P76 and Mendoza clones. In addition, there are smaller plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Grigio. The vineyard has a number of hills running through the property with different soil types and micro climates, which allow the different grape varieties to flourish.

"It's no coincidence we are where we are. We scoured Coldstream in the Yarra Valley to find the perfect site. We were looking for three things - hills, microclimates and the iconic Yarra Valley soil.

The combination of these three factors is why we chose Helen's Hill to put down our roots, as we knew this climate would make our wines truly interesting and unique to others in the region. To this day, these factors define us and the wines we produce.

The French call it terroir. We call it Helen's Hill."  Helen's Hill