2021 Centare Vineyard Reserve Chardonnay

entare Vineyard is located in the heart of the Yarra Valley, Australia’s most prestigious, cool-climate wine region, renowned for producing some of the most exceptional, varietal wines in the world.

The ‘Old Block’ range of wines are single vineyard wines, made entirely from original estate vineyards that were planted to the region’s most classic varieties in 1998.

Yarra Valley Chardonnay is truly world-class, and Centare Vineyard Chardonnay is one of the best in the region.

Awards & Reviews:

96 Points - 2024 Halliday Wine Companion

Tasting Notes: 

This is a fine and delicately stylish expression of Yarra Valley Chardonnay. Soft hints of citrus, white-peach, some toasty, nougat notes and a creamy palate from extended time in oak, but still maintaining the natural fruit acid focus and flavour drive. A beautiful wine on release, that will develop further complexity and texture with at least five to ten years of bottle age.

Winemaking: 

Fruit was hand-picked and meticulously sorted to select only the best bunches for gentle, whole-bunch, small batch pressing. Juice was cold-settled, before transferring to several, 500 litre French oak puncheons (30% new) for wild fermentation to dryness.

Approximately 20% of the wine was also allowed to complete malolactic fermentation and was matured in the puncheons for 18 months, before blending and bottling.

The Vintage: 

2021 was dream Yarra Valley vintage, with almost ideal weather conditions throughout the entire season, leading to very healthy canopies and generous crops of beautiful fruit.

The season was generally mild and sunny, with very well-timed rain events for low disease pressure, good soil moisture and minimal requirement for supplementary irrigation. The season was long, allowing slow, steady and full ripening for maximum character intensity.

The season allowed the early identification and isolation of several rows of superior quality, low yielding Chardonnay that were nurtured, handled separately and given a little longer in oak for an inaugural ‘Reserve’ wine - providing a special memory and toast to a super season

Technical Data: 

Harvest Date:​ ​23rd February 2021

Variety​​: ​100% Chardonnay

Oak​​​: 100% French puncheons – 30% new

Alcohol​​​: 13.2%

Acidity​​: pH 3.15, Titratable Acidity 6.6g/L

Total Cases produced​: 295 x 6 packs (750ml)