2025 Sorrenberg Chardonnay

Sorrenberg is a 3-hectare vineyard in Beechworth, owned by Barry and Jan Morey. Surrounded by forest and bordered by Stony Creek, the site’s cool climate, granitic soil, and northern aspect provide ideal conditions for viticulture, ensuring full ripeness even for late-ripening varieties. Established in 1985, the vineyard focuses on Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Gamay, with smaller amounts of other varieties for their blends. The wines are crafted on-site using traditional methods, including fermentation in French barriques, with close attention to quality. Certified biodynamic since 2008, Sorrenberg emphasizes sustainable farming and low production to maintain exceptional standards.

This Chardonnay is fermented entirely in French oak barrels, with around 25–30% new oak. Natural yeasts are used throughout, and the wine completes full malolactic fermentation. It spends ten months on lees with weekly stirring, followed by a further eight months of barrel maturation. The extended time in barrel means the wine can be slow to show in its youth, so a little patience is rewarded. Minimal handling and filtration are employed to retain clarity of flavour and texture.

Other Reviews...
Ahoy! A pretty darn decent year over in ye olde Beechworth vales, Sorrenberg amongst those with minimal disease pressure and a relatively even growing season, so the lore goes. Always good to see this wine on release.
It’s a bolder, fuller wine, Flavourtown, and yet a little spread out, a bit chalky and grippy with oak inflection but joyous in its carriage of chardonnay essence. SPC tinned tropical fruits, but mellow, maybe even diffuse, a touch of sandalwood and shortbread, just-ripe pineapple, green almond, a cool, saline undertow happening amongst it all. Whiffs of vanilla and cinnamon spice, lemon curd and preserved lime, a splash of jasmine tea. Quite a bit going on here, as is usual and great. The palate does seem to have a bit of oaky cinnamon-dryness that needs meshing into the plusher fruit and there’s a dash of gummy texture finishing the wine that needs to settle in too. Quibbles. This is a detailed analysis in all these words, as the first impression is ‘geez, this is a charmer, all the classic moves’, but if you’re really having a pause and thought about the wine, you’d likely also say ‘it might be good to give it six months to see it start at its best’. Drink 2027-2035.
93+ points
Mike Bennie - The Wine Front