Cobaw Ridge Chardonnay 2025

One gets the sense that the warmer 2025 vintage goes pretty well in the cooler spots of Central Victoria. At 600-plus metres above sea level, the cosseted-in-native-bush, 25-year-young biodynamic vines of Cobaw Ridge might just have found a pretty good balance between the heat of day and the cool of height. So too the wind whips over that site, and so too the nights chill to the max. What seems to be something of 2025 Macedon is flavour in wines, with coolness underlying. Nice.

This is a treat. A quietness to the wine and yet a seductive spread in texture and flavour. Hazy apple juice characters meet fennel, preserved lemon, light, wild honey notes, just-ripe peach and a touch of nougat with vanilla wafer. All of this sticks well in the palate, the perfume a good echo. Minerality, a briny undertow, makes itself known too. The balance is superb, you see it in plain sight. That it tastes like proper chardonnay, has a vitality, finishes long, delivers refreshment factor, well, it all adds up superbly. 96 Points, Drink : 2026 - 2030, WineFront