Wine of the week: a spot-on Aussie chardonnay

2022 Dappled, Appellation Chardonnay, Yarra Valley, Victoria, Australia

£34.50, nattyboywines.co.uk

Dan Long is a consummate wine retailer, talented restaurateur and sniper-accurate wine buyer. He is making serious waves in London with his two impressive restaurants, combining stunning wine selections, refreshingly low margins and acutely wellprepared food. His wine retailing arm is fascinating, and, of course, my eye is drawn to the Aussies!

I recently tasted nine wines with Dan, and every bottle was a bull’s eye. Dappled was a new discovery, and my featured wine, 2022 Dappled, Single Vineyard Les

Vergers Chardonnay (£45), its big brother, and 2022 Dappled Pinot Noir Single Vineyard Champs de Cerises (£45), a red sibling, were all devastatingly pure, evocative, and sensual. My featured 2022 Appellation Chardonnay showed lovely, pithy fruit alongside teasing minerality. With a hint of oak and perfect timbre, this chardy will take a lot of beating this year.

Also pick up 2022 Gembrook Hill Chardonnay (£42) and 2022 Gembrook Hill Pinot Noir (£49.50), a pair of drop-dead gorgeous Yarra Valley classics, as well as Tasmanian wine deity Stefano Lubiana’s son’s new releases – 2022 Marco Lubiana Chardonnay (£46.50) and 2022 Marco Lubiana Pinot Noir 13% (£42.50). When you taste these two, it will be apparent that the apple has not fallen very far from the tree! Finally, 2022 Black Hound Syrah (£32), from the Adelaide Hills in South Australia, tastes like it was once a lusty Cornas that has been on the treadmill and emerged a lithe, cracked pepper and blackberrysoaked goddess!

Matthew Jukes is a winner of the International Wine & Spirit Competition’s Communicator of the Year (MatthewJukes.com).