Handpicked Wines has unveiled its annual collection, which includes two Chardonnays sourced from vineyards just a 45-minute drive from each other: Handpicked Wombat Creek Single Vineyard Chardonnay 2024 and Handpicked Highbow Hill Single Vineyard Chardonnay 2024.

For those wanting to explore terroir within regions, its fascinating to undertake a side-by-side comparative tasting of the two wines.

The two Single Vineyard Yarra Valley Chardonnays, from Wombat Creek in the Gladysdale subregion, and Highbow Hill in the Yarra Glen subregion share the same cool-climate DNA of the Yarra Valley, but represent two sides of the region’s personality: the Valley Floor and the Upper Yarra.

Wombat Creek sits at high-altitude, 420 metres above sea level and features volcanic soils, delivering fragrant, perfumed and finesse of the upper region, while Highbow Hill represents the valley floor, showing the savoury and spice density of the lower elevation.

The 2024 vintage of Wombat Creek Single Vineyard Chardonnay features fruit that has been hand picked and whole bunch pressed to a mix of new and seasoned French oak for wild fermentation, followed by partial malolactic fermentation and 10 month maturation. The result is a powerful wine with a tight acid line.

The 2024 vintage of Highbow Hill Single Vineyard Chardonnay also features hand-picked grapes that were chilled overnight before being whole bunch pressed to a mix of barrique and puncheon. The wine undergoes indigenous fermentation and partial malolactic fermentation before 10 months maturation in French oak. The result is a Chardonnay with a polished quartz like texture, elegance and depth.

Handpicked Chief Winemaker Peter Dillon said: “Taking two wines from the same producer, region, and price point, made by the very same winemakers and viticulturists, has got to be the ultimate and most tangible way to explore terroir.

“It’s a joy for us as winemakers to create a totally new expression of the wine with the same grape; it really shows how the vineyard’s personality carries across into the bottle and onto the palate.”

Handpicked Wombat Creek Single Vineyard Chardonnay and Handpicked Highbow Hill Single Vineyard Chardonnay 2024 both have an RRP of $100 and are available from handpickedwines.com.au and an array of fine wine retailers across the country.