Campbell Mattinson

"Beenak is a vineyard in the Upper Yarra purchased by Coldstream Hills a couple of years ago.

This is modern and sophisticated but it’s also a chardonnay with genuine fruit flavour. If you’re in the mood for chardonnay, this will play straight to your mood. It tastes of stonefruit and cracked wheat, flint, gunsmoke and cedar, though there are dried herb, hay and sea-spray characters roundabouts. There’s also a chalky dryness to the finish, which only helps the impression that this is a tip top wine all round. On returning to this wine I wrote: ‘the palate is both creamy and well cut; the finish is long and gently steely.’ It’s well polished as you’d expect but there’s also something a bit primal about this wine. In any case it’s excellent"

Philip Rich

Made from vines planted in '89 on an easterly facing slope. Coldstream Hill's first Beenak vineyard chardonnay. A touch deeper in colour than the Deer Farm and just a hint riper, too, with its attractive bouquet of perfectly ripened white peaches, hazelnuts and almonds as well as a little grapefruit oil. Gently textured, this well-balanced wine is already a joy to drink but will still be looking good 3–5 years from now.