Station Yarra Valley Reserve Chardonnay

Every vintage at Yering Station, all parcels are randomised and tasted blind before tier assignment — meaning the Reserve designation is earned on merit, not geography. In 2022, the winemaking team demoted what would have been a Reserve Cabernet to Single Vineyard tier for insufficient weight, underscoring exactly how seriously that discipline is applied. The Y28 block — a westerly-facing slope at approximately 75 m elevation on deep clay-loam soils — is the primary source for this Chardonnay; the clay fraction retains moisture through the Yarra Valley's dry summers while moderating vine vigour, producing fruit with concentration rather than mere ripeness. Wild yeast fermentation in French puncheons drives textural complexity without the homogeneity of cultured strains, while the deliberately restrained 14% new French oak regime preserves the site's cool-climate acidity rather than papering over it. What sets this apart from most Australian Chardonnay at this price: the puncheon format (larger than a standard barrique) slows oxidative exchange, building texture incrementally and keeping reductive freshness intact. The 2022 season was moderate in the Yarra Valley — conditions that favour precision over power — and the wine is drinking well now with structure to develop further over three to five years.