Salo Chardonnay | Yarra Valley, VIC | 2018

Taste: Super interesting on the nose, this wine almost takes on an Umami sake style with its saltiness and flinty characteristics amongst the layers of fruit, smoke and savoury nuttiness. It’s energetic with heaps of concentration, depth, complexity and texture. Described by critics as ‘otherworldly’ this is a bold style of chardonnay with alert acidity, exquisite structure and chalky mouth feels that keep on giving.

Mood: Not for the faint hearted, this wine is a main affair so open this guy when you are ready to give it some good attention. Its thick and fleshy nature opens it up to rich seafood and roasted meats or some dam good hard and flavourful cheese. Let this guy breathe and you will never want this bottle to finish.

Grass Roots and Chi: Salo is the side project of Dave Mackintosh and Steve Flamsteed (current winemaker at Giant Steps and last year’s recipient of the Gourmet traveller Wine Magazines “Winemaker of the year”).

With only one wine in the range, the 2018 Salo Chardonnay is in its 11th vintage and has become one of the most demanded chardonnays from the Yarra Valley. With its own cult following, Salo Chardonnay is an incredible expression of the fruit that’s grown in the Full Moon Vineyard which lies in the Upper Yarra Valley in Victoria.

The label is best described by Dave and Steve who say; "We want to use intuitive winemaking on premium parcels of fruit to make gritty, textured, natural wines. University taught us how to overcomplicate things; to add yeast, add malo bugs and add complexity by working wines. It’s taken many years to knock these thoughts out of our heads, and we’ve found that if you have great fruit, the best wine is made by doing bugger all."

With only 245 cases made, this wine is highly sort after. Yes, you can thank us now. Cheers.

Drink now and until 2030. Vegan Friendly.