2023 Bannockburn S.R.H. Chardonnay
2023 Bannockburn S.R.H. Chardonnay

2023 Bannockburn S.R.H. Chardonnay

Highly Rated
Bannockburn |Geelong |Chardonnay
Powerful, luscious and characterful white wine here. A must for lovers of iconic Aussie Chardonnay.
Price:
$100.00
Stock:
In stock, ready to ship
Rendering loop-subscriptions

Description

This is Bannockburn's flagship white wine, and it's again in imperious form.

It's a wine that carries a legacy, crafted from the oldest vines of Olive Tree Hill Vineyard, planted in 1976. These twelve rows, rooted in ancient marine sediments, deliver an exceptional Chardonnay that speaks volumes about its origins. Named after Bannockburn’s founder, Stuart Reginald Hooper, this wine showcases the vineyard’s unique site—a north-facing slope where the vines tap deep into a complex blend of clay, limestone, and marine deposits.

This Chardonnay is a compelling mix of power and finesse. Handpicked and whole bunch pressed, the fruit was treated with utmost care, with a portion undergoing wild fermentation in French oak, adding layers of complexity. The result is a wine with vibrant aromas of stone fruit, lemon curd, and buttered pastry, intertwined with subtle notes of flint and oak. On the palate, it’s both intense and precise, with flavours of citrus, creamy dough, and a chalky minerality that gives it a clean, long finish. 

It's a show-stopping wine and a must for lovers of iconic Australian Chardonnay.

97 points
"The nose has mineral depth with underlying power, showing aromas of lemon confit, orange blossoms and struck match. The palate is medium- to full-bodied with notes of kaffir limes, creme brulee, sweet spices and chalk. Made from a selection of 12 rows planted in 1976. Exceptional. Drink or hold. Screw cap." - JamesSuckling.com

96 points
"The 2023 SRH Chardonnay is textural and taut; it is bound in phenolics at this point, but clearly superb. The length of flavor shows this. The complexity shows this... This will be a seriously great wine—give it time." - Erin Larkin (robertparker.com)

95+ points
"The intensity of flavour here is significant. This is a rocket of a wine. Grapefruit, lime, lemon curd, sweet peach, tinned pear and pineapple characters come wrapped in smoky-sweet cedarwood. Acidity, barley-and-lemon-drenched, is prominent too, in keeping with the power of the fruit. It needs time for certain, but this is quite a wine."
- Campbell Mattinson (winefront.com.au.)

SRH is from a distinctive 12 row selection of our oldest Chardonnay vines at Olive Tree Hill vineyard planted in 1976. Named for Bannockburn founder and pioneer in the region, Stuart Reginald Hooper, this vineyard is responsible for some of our finest and most concentrated Chardonnay wines.

SRH Chardonnay is made from a distinctive 12 row, 2.46 acre vineyard block, at the Olive Tree Hill vineyard. Planted in 1976 to clone P58, these rows are unique from the remainder of the vineyard in part due to being most in contact with and influenced by the site of an ancient seabed in the soil profile. The 12 rows sit in the middle of a north facing slope, and the rows run east-west. Our oldest Chardonnay vines, and always profoundly influenced by the complex soils of clay, limestone and marine sediment.

Handpicked parcels of fruit were whole bunch pressed, settled over night, and racked to barrels for a wild yeast fermentation in French oak hogsheads; approximately 30% was new oak. Malolactic fermentation occurred on 70% of the blend, with the remainder blocked. The wine was left on lees unstirred for 10 months prior to blending and bottling.

The 2023 SRH Chardonnay offers vibrant and rich aromas of stone fruit, various citrus, cream filled pastry and buttered popcorn with hints of flint and well integrated oak flavours. The flavours are intense but very pure and balanced, with a an array of fruit aromas, yeasty dough characters, chalk, oak spice and smoke. This is an outstanding release and without a doubt, one of the best SRH to date.

97 points - "The nose has mineral depth with underlying power, showing aromas of lemon confit, orange blossoms and struck match. The palate is medium- to full-bodied with notes of kaffir limes, creme brulee, sweet spices and chalk. Made from a selection of 12 rows planted in 1976. Exceptional. Drink or hold. Screw cap." - JamesSuckling.com

96 points - "The 2023 SRH Chardonnay is textural and taut; it is bound in phenolics at this point, but clearly superb. The length of flavor shows this. The complexity shows this. It's a hugely impressive wine that speaks of white peach, green apples, green olive brine, white strawberries and white pepper. It's salty and a little chewy. This will be a seriously great wine—give it time. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap." - Erin Larkin (robertparker.com)

95+ points - "The intensity of flavour here is significant. This is a rocket of a wine. Grapefruit, lime, lemon curd, sweet peach, tinned pear and pineapple characters come wrapped in smoky-sweet cedarwood. Acidity, barley-and-lemon-drenched, is prominent too, in keeping with the power of the fruit. It needs time for certain, but this is quite a wine." - Campbell Mattinson (winefront.com.au.)

Bannockburn

For decades, the Bannockburn vineyard has been producing Burgundian-inspired wines which truly reflect a unique patch of Australian terroir.

Originally planted by founder Stuart Hooper and the great Gary Farr in the early 1970s, the wines that come from this special vineyard in Geelong show a rare sense of place. The ancient riverbed soils that sit below the vines impart a distinct saline character for the whites and an awesome power in the reds which makes the wines from this place immediately identifiable.

Matt Holmes is the current winemaker, having taken over from Michael Glover after years as assistant winemaker. His wines have been receiving great critical acclaim during his tenure and this great Australian vineyard's legacy seems very safe in his capable hands.

Winemaker Matt Holmes - Geelong, VIC Bannockburn

Others also liked

Recently viewed

Shipping

Delivery is free on orders of $150 or more!

For orders under this amount, delivery is calculated at checkout based on your postcode. You can order in any quantity or combination of wines you like. Straight dozens are not required.

We will dispatch your order the same or next business day.

Estimated delivery transit time varies depending on your location. Please review this page for specific estimates.

Sydney (Our Vans): If no one is home and there are no special delivery instructions our driver will try to call for instructions. If the driver believes there is a safe space to leave your wine they will do so if not, they will return the item to us and hold your order until further instruction from you. 

Melbourne (Anonymous Wine Freight): If no one is home and there are no special delivery instructions, the courier will try to call for instructions. If the driver believes there is a safe space to leave your wine they will do so. if not, they will return the item to their dispatch centre and hold until further instruction from you.

Australia Post: Australia Post will leave the parcel if they have been given authority to leave and it is deemed safe to do so. To give your Authority to Leave, please enter this in the 'SPECIAL REQUEST' box at checkout.

Ordering

We want Different Drop customers to always be getting the best price. If you see a lower price elsewhere, just get in touch and we will sort it out for you. We handle all our price-matching on a case by case basis.

Some things to keep in mind: 

  • Retrospective price-matching is available for 30 days after you have purchased from us.
  • The price match cannot be used in conjunction with a coupon or one-off deal we are offering. The idea is for you to get the best price in the market so if that is already achieved through a coupon then we won't price match on top of that.
  • We don't price match clearance or fire sales.
  • We’ll match the listed price as long as it is a legitimate offer and the competing store is actually able to fulfil the order (they have stock or more stock is en route). Essentially we won't price match cheeky vendors listing wines they have no hope of actually getting for you...
  • It must be a publicly listed price. We won't match a price that has been achieved through a coupon/cash-back arrangement, or through a non-advertised offer over the phone or otherwise.  
  • It is limited to a reasonable retail quantity.

We'll treat each price match request on its merit and reserve the right to refuse where we deem fit. For example, particularly rare wines, from non-trust-worthy vendors, in circumstances we deem illegitimate or if we feel our policy is being unfairly taken advantage of.

At the end of the day, we'll look after you and use common sense to ensure you're getting the best price, please just don't take the p%$$!

No, feel free to mix it up! There is no minimum requirement. You can order wines in any quantity or combination, 1 or 50+ bottles.

We stock three different sized gift boxes (single, three bottle and six), all are available for purchase for a flat rate of $8. They look great and make an awesome impression.

To add a gift box to your order, simply add at checkout. The special requests box is your friend, please give us as many details of what you are looking for and we will try our best, or get in contact to discuss it with you. 

If you want to bulk order gifts or if you have any trouble please email hello@differentdrop.com or call and we can try and help.

 

If you can't add more wine to your cart it means we are low on stock of that wine. For example, if you are only able to 3 bottles and no more that means we only have 3 bottles left of that wine. If it's a must have, please contact us and we may be able to order more in for you.

Just want to talk to someone?

Please don't ever hesitate - we would love to help! Whether it's a problem we can fix, a wine you're not 100% sure on or if you simply want to talk about wine, food and the meaning of life, we are here for you.

Call Us

02 8376 8775

Send a message

hello@differentdrop.com