Eight at the Gate Chardonnay 2023
$22, 12.9%, screwcap, Wrattonbully
This is one of those bell-clear wines that just gets the job done with a minimum of fuss. Sunny pear and citrus flavours come infused with vanilla, banana, popcorn and tropical fruit. It’s racy and it’s satisfying at once. It’s not the most complex wine in the tool shed but it doesn’t need to be; it drinks well and that’s all that matters. 90 points.
Campbell Mattinson has been an independent journalist, wine critic and photographer for forty years. He founded The Winefront, is a former chief editor of the Halliday Wine Companion (and former editor of Halliday magazine), and is the only Australian to have won the Australian Wine Communicator of the Year Award more than once. He is 100% independent, and tastes between 5,000 and 10,000 wines each year, blind and in comparative brackets as often as is practicable.
Mattinson is also the founder of the Mattinson Photography business.
