Tomboy Hill Rebellion Chardonnay 2014
Style: White Wine
Closure: Screwcap
Tomboy Hill Rebellion Chardonnay 2014
Warehouse
Burke Road
Camberwell VIC 3124
Australia
Producer: Tomboy Hill
Country: Australia
Region: Ballarat
Vintage: 2014
Critic Score: 95
Alcohol: 13.0%
Size: 750 ml
Drink by: 2026
"Tomboy Hill is renowned for its exciting range of single-vineyard wines sourced from small vineyards around Ballarat." Huon Hooke
Tomboy Hill is a tiny vineyard in Ballarat planted in 1984 by former schoolteacher Ian Watson. Only chardonnay and pinot noir are grown and are planted in the Burgundian mode - 1m x 1.2m grid and low-trellised. In addition, fruit is sourced from five other select vineyards in the Ballarat Goldfields district. The 'Rebellion' label is a blend of fruit from all the vineyards. In 2006, a significant portion of the Rebellion Chardonnay (35%) came from the Tomboy Hill vineyard.
"Hand-picked, matured in new and used French barriques. Ballarat strikes again; it really does invest this wine with a rapier thrust of intensity akin to Premier Cru (and some Grand Cru) Chablis. This is a seriously good chardonnay." James Halliday
Expert reviews
"Hand-picked, matured in new and used French barriques. Ballarat strikes again; it really does invest this wine with a rapier thrust of intensity akin to Premier Cru (and some Grand Cru) Chablis. This is a seriously good chardonnay. Drink by 2026." James Halliday, Halliday Wine Companion - 95 points
"The 2014 Rebellion chardonnay is a delicious wine. Deep straw coloured, the nose of melon, pear and peach is integrated seamlessly with French oak to produce a haunting fragrance. The palate is perfectly balanced and tightly focused; mouthfilling yet delicate at the same time, the natural acidity providing a mouthwatering finale and proclaiming its cool climate origins. A significant portion of the wine (35%) came from the Tomboy Hill vineyard (no wine was produced in 2014 under 'The Tomboy' label), and I have no doubt that this is reflected in the quality of the wine." Nick Munday, Canterbury Wines - 94+ points
About the winery
Ian Watson at his Tomboy Hill winery
Tomboy Hill is a tiny vineyard in Ballarat planted in 1984 by former schoolteacher Ian Watson. The vineyard is within viewing distance of the Eureka Rebellion site. The vineyard is planted in the Burgundian mode (1m x 1.2m grid and low-trellised) and is still, by necessity, hand-pruned, hand-sprayed and hand-picked. Ballarat's climatic similarities with Burgundy influence the mode of viticulture and wine-making, with only chardonnay and pinot noir being grown. In addition, fruit is sourced from five other select vineyards owned by small growers in the Ballarat Goldfields district. These vineyards are located at Smythe's Creek, Rokewood Junction, Garibaldi Farm, Scotsburn and Coghill's Creek.
Single vineyard wines are produced in years in which the quality is sufficiently high. Tomboy Hill's chardonnay and pinot noir wines under the 'Rebellion' label are blends from all the vineyards. The sheer quality of all the wines makes one wonder, with global warming an almost certainty, if the Ballarat region will be Australia's answer to Burgundy in the coming years.
Victoria
Victoria is home to more than 800 wineries across 21 wine regions. The regions are Alpine Valley, Beechworth, Bendigo, Geelong, Gippsland, Glenrowan, Goulburn Valley, Grampians, Heathcote, Henty, King Valley, Macedon Ranges, Mornington Peninsula, Murray Darling, Pyrenees, Rutherglen, Strathbogie Ranges, Sunbury, Swan Hill, Upper Goulburn and Yarra Valley.
Victoria's first vines were planted at Yering in the Yarra Valley in 1838. By 1868 over 3,000 acres had been planted in Victoria, establishing Victoria as the premier wine State of the day. Today, the original vineyards planted at Best's Wines are among the oldest and rarest pre-phylloxera plantings in the world.
Victoria's climate varies from hot and dry in the north to cool in the south and each wine region specialises in different varietals. For example, Rutherglen in the north is famous for its opulent Muscats and Topaque and bold reds, while the many cooler climate regions near Melbourne produce world class Chardonnay and pinot Noir. Victoria is truly a wine lover's playground.