Four Growers Chardonnay 2017

Like King Solomon the Wise, winemakers have to be masters of judgement and balance. Leave the grapes on the vine too long? You end up with wine that is over-ripe and uninteresting. Ferment the wine at too low-a temperature and you risk ending up with peculiarly strong pear drop and banana flavours. It's quite honestly perilous.

But, like Solomon and his fabled sword, the good winemakers out there know what to do and when. Fresh but not astringent, bold without being in-your-face, this Chardonnay gets it just right - without one sword being used.

The Four Growers are four like-minded Australian grape growing families who have joined forces to create wines that offer quality, consistency and verve, at a competitive price. They have invested in a state-of-the-art winery and pick only the fines grapes from the small 8km of vineyards, meaning that freshness of fruit is preserved at harvest and the grapes can be refrigerated and fermented at low temperatures very quickly.

As growers as well as winemakers, they have control over the varieties they grow, allowing experimentation with small parcels of lesser known varieties that would not be economical for larger wine companies.

Sourced from their vines in the Riverland region of South Australia, this Chardonnay has zesty acidity, bright citrus and stone fruit flavours and with a crisp, fresh and pleasant finish.