2021 Savaterre Frere Cadet Chardonnay 750ml

From Beechworth, Victoria, Australia

Style: White Wine

Variety: Chardonnay

Closure: Screwcap

Producer: Savaterre

Alcohol: 13.5%

Size: 750 ml

Drink by: 2032

When rare parcels of particularly outstanding Beechworth grapes become available, our winemaker Keppell Smith likes to create something unique and bottle it under Savaterre’s ‘Frre Cadet’ (Younger Brother) label.

The Frre Cadet range of wines evolved to be more accessible in their youth. These wines are created with the same attention to detail that goes into our premium Savaterre label but are more giving when young. All grapes are handpicked and fermented by indigenous yeasts.

There is minimal interference. Nature takes its course. The wine is matured for 18 months in the best French oak before maturing in bottle prior to release.

I want you to enjoy this wine on occasions when Grand Cru would not be appropriate. Its the wine you open when your friends drop in for a casual dinner or you collapse on the couch after a long day of work and stream an addictive TV series.

This is winemaker Keppell Smith’s negotiant bottling, hewn from purchased grapes with an artisanal approach akin to that to his flagship cuvee: a spontaneous ferment of hand-picked grapes embellished with high quality French oak (18 months). The result is creamy and mouth filling; mid-weighted and as reliant on ripe stone fruit allusions as it is on a leesy detail, mineral and pungent; and subalpine acidity and fresh; for pulse, pull and sappt length…Rated: 94Points”

Ned GoodwinMW– Halliday’s Wine Companion 2020 – Savaterre 2017 ‘Frre Cadet’