"My favourite Australian Chardonnay. The 1998 is a great wine that may ultimately rival the 1993 and 1996 Giaconda for it's sheer opulence, weight, richness and complexity. At the moment it's a little oaky, but this will integrate with time. With it's savoury Burgundian overtones (and I don't use this description lightly) excellent balance and structure, this wine will give immense pleasure for the next five to ten years".Philip RichThe Australian Financial Review Magazine"There are certainly Australian Chardonnays with a cult following. A prime example is Giaconda from the high Ovens Valley in Victoria, made in tiny quantities and difficult to run to earth. This is the sort of wine Americans call funky, i.e. far from the production-line technical perfection that is the Australian norm. It needs time to show it's fascinating best".Jancis RobinsonFinancial TimesWeekend UKA genuine surprise, provided you've never tried the minuscule amounts of chardonnay from Rick Kinzbrunner's vineyard near Beechworth, north-east Victoria. This wine is classically proportioned, complex and enduring, made with the same disregard to modern and allegedly enlightened winemaking techniques as the very best from Burgundy. Jeremy Oliver
