MUNDA WALGALU COUNTRY 2023 CHARDONNAY ($45 / Tumbarumba, NSW)
Today I am talking about a Tumbarumba wine. Tumbarumba is situated at 35 South latitude in the foothills of the Snowy Mountains, roughly halfway between Sydney and Melbourne.
Until not that long ago nobody had heard of Tumbarumba as a wine region, because the first grape vines were only planted in 1981 by Ian Cowell on what is now 'Revee Estate'. The first vintage- 1986 was bought by Charles Sturt University and Seppelts to make sparkling wine.
These days there are sixteen growers/producers in the region, including Collector Wines & Eden Road Wines as well as several renowned wineries such as Clonakilla Wines and Penfolds drawing grapes from the area.
Today’s wine is the First Nation’s owned Munda Wines who offer wines from several different wine mundas (lands in Aboriginal language) across the country, from Margaret River across to the Yarra Valley.
The Munda Walgalu Country 2023 Chardonnay comes from two vineyards some 740 metres above sea level. It has a taut restrained cool climate bouquet of limes, lemons with just a dash of white peaches and a hint of nuttiness. Very appealing, tight, restrained citrus driven palate with tantalising hints of stone fruit and a delightful refreshing finish. This wine will blossom and evolve over the next few years to become truly a sensational top-class chardonnay.
This beauty along with the rest of the excellent Munda Wines range can be found at www.mundawines.com.au .
By the way, Munda Wines work in conjunction with their winery partners and the Tjindu Foundation to provide wine industry opportunities for First Nations people.
Dan Traucki