Santolin Cosa Nostra Chardonnay 2019

Bridget Jones made many mistakes in her life; she entertained the thought of being with that foppish cad Hugh Grant, she ran outside in winter in her leopard print underwear after Colin Firth & she made the terrible faux pas of being fictional. Very embarrassing. One thing she got bang on however, was her love of Aussie Chardonnay. Aussie Chardonnay's however have evolved much like the character herself (did you watch Bridget Jones's Baby? Yeah, don't bother). Whereas once they were overt, over the top, uncouth but charming, now wines like Santolin Cosa Nostra dominate. Bold but well-balanced, this Chardonnay is textural and rich with funky aromas and supple mouthfeel. Complex flavours of hazelnut, fig and toast.

Born in Australia to Italian parents, Adrian was fully immersed in his family's Italian culture growing up - and wine, of course played a big part of that heritage. Adrian worked at a local winery in Griffith during his school and university holidays. In 2002 he began working fulltime in the industry as a lab technician. In 2003 he moved to the Hunter Valley starting out as a cellar hand. Within two years he worked his way up to Assistant Winemaker. In 2006 he worked a vintage in Italy and then settled down in the Yarra Valley working as a winemaker for various wineries and vineyards gaining knowledge of wine production and vineyard management techniques. This culminated in Adrian; along with his wife Rebecca starting their own wine business in 2012.

Santolin’s winemaking style is focused on minimal intervention to showcase the flavours of the wine in its purest form. Santolin’s ethos is to keep it simple. An exceptional wine starts with great fruit and then Santolin do very little to the fruit along the way except to keep an eye on things to make sure everything is moving along nicely. As a result, each wine showcases its varietal, regional and vineyard characteristics. Fruit is handpicked at the optimum time giving a balance between flavour and natural acidity. The grapes are sourced from the most ideal sites for the respective varieties.