"Utterly delicious and, yet, so serious in intent and presence!"

Beechworth experienced one of its latest harvests ever, in spite of fairly early budburst. A cool season produced chardonnay that Rick Kinzbrunner, founder and winemaker of Giaconda, described as "at the highest end of the scale.  JAMES HALLIDAY

From Beechworth and an excellent viti-vini team. These are wines to firmly keep a handle on (and buy and drink!). MIKE BENNIE, The Wine Front
 
The wines of Fighting Gully Road have always been good but in recent times they’ve taken significant steps forward by my reckoning. CAMPBELL MATTINSON

"Utterly delicious.." That's undeniable, but this wine is so much more. Mark Walpole has a rare talent for producing incredible quality fruit from his prized vineyards AND knowing what to do with it when it hits the winery. Wielding the power of Beechworth is no easy task and yet Mark makes sure that he marries that grunt with lighter shades of flint, citrus and spice, and the energy, lift and tension needed to propel the wine across the palate like a league bowler. 

I am not sure what goes on in that converted lunatic asylum that Mark and Adrian Rodda share up in Beechworth (true story), but the wines coming out of there are so consistently excellent that I hope that it continues until they are old and grey. I think they must feed off each other quite a bit. Mark probably gets the nod when it comes to understanding what makes great fruit in the vineyard and Adrian's talents as a winemaker are well known, but it seems those lines are blurring and Mark's wines are looking the perfect package these days, brimming with intensity, seasoned perfectly with oak and delivered with a sort of quiet confidence that makes them as noted up top so "utterly delicious" upfront that you almost forget just how good the winemaking is under the hood.

Today's wine is from the 2022 vintage, a brilliant follow up to an excellent 2021 offering. The vintage was one of the latest picked in living memory which was perfect for Chardonnay. The long ripening period allowing plenty of time for the grapes to develop flavour and punch, but cool enough to retain the freshness and acidity needed to handle that bold Beechworth fruit. 

Ok so recapping...great piece of dirt, super talented vigneron and winemaker, excellent vintage but there is one final piece to this puzzle. This wine offers stupendous value for your hard earned pennies. Beechworth has a reputation for producing some of the best Chardonnay in the country, but that understandably comes with a price to match. Mark seemingly hasn't got the message that he can charge more for his wines yet....shhh. So in the context of Beechworth in particular this wine is outrageous value at well under $45 in a six pack. It's a perennial contender for best value Chardonnay of the year and for those who love Beechworth, it's right at the top of that list.