Description
If you know Gentle Folk, you’ll know winemaker Gareth Belton doesn’t do anything by halves. The 2023 Piccadilly Chardonnay is a beautiful reflection of his approach—a wine that speaks to both the land and the wild weather the Adelaide Hills threw at him.
This Piccadilly Chardonnay comes from some of the oldest vines in the region, planted in 1983. The site, just off Udy’s Rd, sits high at 470 metres, and Gareth refers to it as his “Grand Cru” patch of Piccadilly. It’s a vineyard known for its muscle, but in this vintage, we see something leaner, more tightly wound. Blame (or thank!) the cooler growing season for a wine that’s all about energy and tension.
Lemon citrus, ripe melon, and a zing of acidity keep this Chardonnay fresh and vibrant, but underneath it all, there’s a core of flinty minerality that keeps things serious. Gareth doesn’t like to fuss with the winemaking—he prefers to let the vineyard speak for itself—so this wine spent 11 months in French oak, just enough time to round out the edges without overwhelming the fruit.
It's a tightly wound Chardonnay built on flint and minerality. There is plenty of flavour there but it's the tension and drive of this wine that sets this cuvee apart. The Piccadilly Chardonnay is another excellent and an exciting offering from Gareth Belton.
97 points
"From a cooler-than-usual vintage, the wine is so delightfully clean, transparent and microscopically calibrated. I'm in awe. Acidity is brilliant, bright, weaved in and enlivening. Underripe pineapple and red apple skin, fleshy and tart with bitter citrus through the finish. It's tightly wound, seemingly infinitely so, which should excite us all. Its future is a safe bet."
- Katrina Butler (Halliday Wine Companion)
95+ points
"Soft, gentle, curiously concentrated in a way with almond, just-ripe pineapple, nectarine, red apple and some natural yoghurt characters. It’s very relaxed and yet has a core of very briny, mineral-charged acidity with a long, trailing, pleasingly bitter finish. A light dusting of cinnamon spice amongst all this. A succulence and freshness even with the modest sense of generosity. This should mature spectacularly too."
- Mike Bennie (The Wine Front)
| Price Bracket | $51 to $100 |
| Type | White |
| Body | Medium Bodied |
| Variety | Chardonnay |
| Country | Australia |
| Region | Adelaide Hills |
| Australian State | SA |
| Feature |
High Score |
| Reviewed By |
The Wine Front Halliday Wine Companion |
| Critic Score |
95 97 |
| Size | 750ml |
| Vintage | 2023 |
| Closure | Cork |
Gentle Folk
Gareth Belton in one of his vineyards - Basket Range, Adelaide Hills, SA Gentle Folk
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.