Giaconda Estate Chardonnay 2021 (Beechworth, Australia) - [WA 100] [TWI 100] [JA 100] [DM 100] [VM 98+]
Giaconda Estate Chardonnay 2021 (Beechworth, Australia) - [WA 100] [TWI 100] [JA 100] [DM 100] [VM 98+]
Giaconda Estate Chardonnay 2021 (Beechworth, Australia) - [WA 100] [TWI 100] [JA 100] [DM 100] [VM 98+]
Giaconda Estate Chardonnay 2021 (Beechworth, Australia) - [WA 100] [TWI 100] [JA 100] [DM 100] [VM 98+]

Giaconda Estate Chardonnay 2021
(Beechworth, Australia) - [WA 100] [TWI 100] [JA 100] [DM 100] [VM 98+]


$500.00 $399.99 Save $100.01
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WA100 TWI100 JA100 DM100 VM98+
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About the Winery:

Giaconda vineyard was established by Rick Kinzbrunner, a mechanical engineer who became interested in wine in the early 1970's. Rick then spent the next ten years working in the industry, travelling and following his passion for wine. After a brief stint in New Zealand, he studied at Davis University in California and worked at some of the most respected wineries in the Napa and Sonoma Valleys (namely Stag's Leap, Simi and Matanzas Creek). In Europe he worked for the Moueix group in Bordeaux, co-owner of the fabled Chateau Petrus.

After returning to Australia in 1980 to take up a position as assistant winemaker at Brown Brothers in Milawa, Rick purchased land in the nearby Beechworth wine region - at the foothills of the beautiful North-East Victorian Alps. Planting commenced in 1982 and the property is now devoted solely to Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Shiraz. A separate planting of Nebbiolo has also been established close to the Beechworth township at Red Hill. Total area under vines at the Giaconda Estate Vineyard is now 4 hectares. Annual wine production is approximately 2,500 dozen bottles.

Rick’s son Nathan Kinzbrunner works full time at Giaconda and has done so since the 2007 vintage. His responsibilities include Assistant Winemaker and General Business Manager. Nathan also owns and manages a single hectare planting of Nebbiolo located at 'Red Hill' in Beechworth which produces fruit made under the Giaconda label.

Tasting Notes

Giaconda Estate Vineyard Chardonnay represents the pinnacle of winemaking and craftsmanship in Australia's ultra-fine wine scene, and has gained a reputation for being  hard to find.

The grapes are grown in gravel and clay soil at the foothills of the Victorian Alps. They are meticulously hand-picked, lightly crushed, and basket pressed before undergoing wild fermentation in oak barrels in our gravity-flow cellar. After maturing for over 18 months in French oak, with 30% new barrels and 100% malolactic fermentation, the result is a wine of unparalleled intensity, complexity, and finesse, with vibrant acidity.

Ratings & Reviews


100 Points - Decanter:
A sensational Giaconda Chardonnay in 2021 - one that above all conveys both a precise sense of place and winemaking signature, offering nothing short of exceptional drinking pleasure both now and into the future. A dominant struck match and smoky, flint, mineral reduction on the nose clears to reveal an intense aromatic display - half wild, woody and herbal, half fruity and pristine with peach, white flowers, lemon, green apple and dried herbs. Smooth and round in the mouth, fully textured with incredible depth - at first sharp, mouthwateringly juicy and lively, then concentrated and expansive with hints of tropical pineapple, zesty citrus and soft savoury spice aspects. Perfectly weighted, balanced and harmonious but constantly evolving with time in the glass - nuanced and interesting with grip, tension and energy alongside wisps of warming, toasted oak which adds another dimension and layer of flavour. Beautifully delineated - there is power here no doubt, but this has personality and the most enrapturing stoniness that lingers on the lifted finish. Effortless and totally moreish - a fabulous wine with the only downside in that it’s made in such small quantities! The wine is made from a 4.5-hectare plot of specific mineralised soil comprising ancient decomposed granite and clay on high-altitude (400m+), south-facing slopes in Beechworth, Victoria that were previously uncultivated before winemaker Rick Kinzbrunner first planted vines in 1982. Cuttings were taken from the original P58 Penfolds Chardonnay clone, ‘as well as a few others’ says Kinzbrunner who adopts a less is more approach to viticulture and vinification. Organically-certified in 2019, grapes are hand harvested and hand sorted before being whole bunch crushed in basket presses twice, settled lightly overnight, then racked to 225L Burgundy Sirugue barrels (25% new) and stored underground for spontaneous wild yeast fermentation. The wine is left on its lees for 12 months, undergoing natural malolactic fermentation with occasional stirring, then moved by gravity for blending and left in stainless steel tanks to settle naturally before being bottled, generally without fining or filtration. The wine is moved by gravity throughout the entire process, only seeing a pump when removing the juice from the press. A small amount of sulphur is used at the end of malolactic and adjusted in tank before bottling. The wines have naturally relatively low PHs (3.6) and low acidity which give ‘good structure in the mouth’ says Kinzbrunner who, rather than follow trends, makes ‘the wine I like to drink’. The wine will see 25% of its production (roughly 2,400 bottles) having a wider distribution through Bordeaux négociant Jean-Pierre Moueix for the first time this year, with 75% of production remaining for the Australia and New Zealand markets.

100 Points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate:

Having tasted five bottles of this remarkable wine over the past year (most of them mine), I can confirm that it is evolving and changing with time in the bottle, but each time I taste it, I am amazed by its ability to highlight parts of the wine I may not have focused on the last time I tasted it. Twice this week, the 2021 Estate Vineyard Chardonnay has spoken first of its reduction and flint: it is bony and austere and taut, and I mean this in the best of ways. It speaks of its architecture currently, over its fruit. Yet it is propelled by the fruit. Giaconda manages focus and precision alongside its famous reduction, and this is what separates it from other producers in the country. It may be easy to can the reduction if it's not your preferred quality in Chardonnay, but the fruit and phenolic focus of the wine is untouchable. This is inimitable. I'm running out of bottles to taste, but I've loved every single one so far. 2024-2038.


100 Points - The Wine Independent:

The 2021 Giaconda Estate Vineyard Chardonnay needs a lot of shaking to conjure wafts of ripe, juicy Bosc pears, Golden Delicious apples, and struck flint, followed by fragrant hints of lime leaves, orange blossoms, Marcona almonds, coriander seed, and sea spray. The medium-bodied palate delivers unbelievable intensity for its delicate weight, featuring a satiny texture and jaw-dropping tension, finishing with a long-lingering firework display of citrus essence and chalky mineral notes. Since it’s a touch shy and restrained right now, it would be a shame to drink it before it’s had 3-5 years in cellar, after which prepare for it to go atomic. But since it’s so, so tantalizing, if you must, be sure to decant it a good hour or two before serving. This is as good as Chardonnay gets and then some. 2026-2041.


100 Points - Jane Anson Inside Bordeaux:

After a tough 2020 vintage with wildfires that meant they produced no Giaconda, this was a balanced and pristine vintage in comparison, and we are rewarded with this stunning wine. Take your time, allowing for the gunsmoke reduction to clear, followed by a slow release of flint, greengage, white peach, citrus zest and sage flavours, all juicy and mouthwatering, unwavering in its grip and lift, with salted cracker and oyster shell coming in underneath. Shows a complexity that keeps you rooted to the spot. All French oak for ageing, at around 30% new. Located in an old historic goldmining town established in the late 1800s, with decomposed granite soils on the foothills of the Victorian Alps, around 440m altitude, 1m topsoil over solid granite, producting one of the great white wines of the world. Certified organic, wild yeast fermentation.

99 Points - Jasper Morris Inside Burgundy:

An excellent vintage in Beechworth with average winter rains carrying over into spring, before a mild and temperate summer. There’s immediate and immense power on display aromatically, and a veritable explosion of complexity. Intense flint and matchstick reduction are underpinned by savoury woodsmoke and quality cedar char before air and warmth unlock bergamot tea, beeswax, nectarine, lemon rind, hay, and further matchstick minerality. The palate is powerful and seductive, sapid and complex with a glycerol-like texture cut by crystalline mineral tension. Flint, smoke, lemon wax, nectarine, fine cedar, bergamot tea and brown spices saturate the palate before being wrapped up in bright, clean acidity and integrated phenolics to a seemingly endless finish. A chiselled, muscular, and powerfully complex wine. Drink from 2024-2036. Tasted Apr 2024.


98+ Points - Vinous:
 The 2021 Chardonnay shows fantastic definition, power and length. Pithy aromas of musky peach, nougat, flint, gunpowder and granitic minerality frame this wine, leaning heavily on earth tones. Chewy in texture, this is like a mini-2017—incredibly long and tight, with the depths of its charms yet to be unveiled. A backbone of chalky acidity maintains tension and holds shape through the exceptionally long finish. (Drink between 2032-2050)