Bannockburn Vineyards was established by the late Stuart Hooper in 1974; his vision was to create a vineyard which would produce Australian wine of a quality to emulate the great wines of France, in particular top-line Burgundies. Bannockburn is consistently rated amongst Australia's finest Chardonnay makers and their 1314 Chardonnay has been a welcome addition to the line-up. The 2025 Bannockburn 1314 Chardonnay is made from grapes sourced from across Bannockburn’s organically farmed estate vineyards. This is a barrel selection of the estate’s 2025 crop, so the cellar practice is as it was for the estate wines. The fruit was pressed as bunches to hogsheads (20% new) for fermentation. As was the case last year, the oak is faultlessly integrated, a testament to the power of the site and soils and the skilled hand of Holmes. The wine underwent full malolactic conversion, followed by eight months of maturation on lees with no stirring. The 2025 is bright and bursting with citrus and stone fruits, with hints of richness and spice. Tight lines and racy fresh acidity match lovely fleshy weight and supple, silky texture. This is already singing and will flourish with some time in bottle. "93 Points. The core of fruit flavour here is just simply delicious. In fact this wine pretty much rates as a ‘wow’ for deliciousness. It tastes of hay and yellow stonefruit, popcorn and pears, with a fully-integrated lacing of cedarwood oak. It’s a wine of excellent fruit intensity and also of out-and-out succulence. Yes please. Love this. Tasted: Jan26. 13% alc. $37. Screwcap Drink: 2026 - 2030"- Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front. "93 Points. All estate fruit; 15% new oak, 85% mlf. A very bright green gold. An appealing bouquet of stone fruits, lemon curd, grilled hazelnut and a gentle waft of sea spray. As always with this wine, it's generous and mouth-filling but it's also balanced and long. Drink now and over the next two to three years. $37. 13.5% alc. Drink: 2026- 2030. Screwcap"- Philip Rich, Halliday Wine Companion.
