Just when you thought Oakridge couldn't scale any more heights with their incredible range of Chardonnays, along comes The Apex Twin. A single-barrel wine, it's said to not be a limited release, but rather an exclusive release.
This is the second vintage of this wine, but it's only the first time I have had the privilege to take a look.
The fruit is sourced from the Funder & Diamond Vineyard's Drive Block - the site responsible for the incredibly pure and sophisticated 864 Funder & Drive Block Chardonnay.
Barrel fermented for 21 months on lees, that extra contact delivers more texture than what I've seen in the other Chardonnay wines from this label.
It opens with scents of gunsmoke and oyster shell with concentrated white fleshed stonefruit, lemon juice, caramelised peach, brioche, popcorn, almond meal, custard powder and caramel drops bringing interest and detail at every turn. Considered and focused, there is a fabulous textural presence and oceans of depth. Precise in its delivery, grapefruit acidity brings the mouth to water. In all, it is brilliance and excellence neatly wrapped up in a divine package.
And before I get peppered with questions of preference, given the two, I would prefer the 864 Funder & Diamond Block Chardonnay 2023 ($100) ahead of this wine. We are splitting hairs here, but the poise and focus had me fixated. Wholistically, Oakridge is absolutely humming at the moment with superb Chardonnays across all pricepoints, and as a consumer, you are the winner.
97/100
Region: Yarra Valley
