Region: Adelaide Hills
Sub Region: Lenswood
Variety: Chardonnay
Country: Australia
Vintage: 2024
The Wine
Lenswood sits at the top of the Shaw + Smith Chardonnay range and has developed into one of the Adelaide Hills’ most important single-vineyard wines. The estate vineyard was first planted in 1999, with east- and west-facing slopes rising to 500 metres above sea level. Its altitude and cool growing conditions give the wine both natural acidity and a long, measured path to ripeness.
The 2024 season brought cool, wet conditions during flowering, reducing berry set and producing smaller, lighter bunches. A mostly mild and dry growing season followed, resulting in low yields, high acidity and excellent flavour concentration.
The fruit was hand-picked and hand-sorted before gentle whole-bunch pressing. Fermentation took place in 500-litre French oak puncheons, 30% new, followed by full malolactic fermentation and ten months in oak. The wine was then rested in tank before bottling, allowing the oak, lees and fruit components to settle without losing the vineyard’s inherent precision.
There is intensity here, but not excess. Citrus, white stone fruit, flint and gentle spice are drawn together by fine acidity, saline detail and a restrained, carefully controlled texture. Shaw + Smith expects the wine to reward up to two decades of cellaring.
Cellared Says
Lenswood has become a reference point for modern Australian Chardonnay. It has the concentration and complexity expected of a flagship wine, but its real appeal is the control: finely judged oak, mineral drive and freshness rather than simple richness. A serious cellar prospect that belongs alongside Australia’s best cool-climate Chardonnays. Give this a few minutes to open up, it really is excellent.
Reviews
“Scintillating acidity, a gentle, savoury underbelly, crisp stone fruit and green apple characters, a distinct weave of saline minerality.”
97 Points – Mike Bennie, Halliday Wine Companion
“It blends flavour with sophistication with finesse with flair. The length on this beauty. The exquisite composure.”
97 Points – Campbell Mattinson
Region: Adelaide Hills
Sub Region: Lenswood
Variety: Chardonnay
Country: Australia
Vintage: 2024
The Wine
Lenswood sits at the top of the Shaw + Smith Chardonnay range and has developed into one of the Adelaide Hills’ most important single-vineyard wines. The estate vineyard was first planted in 1999, with east- and west-facing slopes rising to 500 metres above sea level. Its altitude and cool growing conditions give the wine both natural acidity and a long, measured path to ripeness.
The 2024 season brought cool, wet conditions during flowering, reducing berry set and producing smaller, lighter bunches. A mostly mild and dry growing season followed, resulting in low yields, high acidity and excellent flavour concentration.
The fruit was hand-picked and hand-sorted before gentle whole-bunch pressing. Fermentation took place in 500-litre French oak puncheons, 30% new, followed by full malolactic fermentation and ten months in oak. The wine was then rested in tank before bottling, allowing the oak, lees and fruit components to settle without losing the vineyard’s inherent precision.
There is intensity here, but not excess. Citrus, white stone fruit, flint and gentle spice are drawn together by fine acidity, saline detail and a restrained, carefully controlled texture. Shaw + Smith expects the wine to reward up to two decades of cellaring.
Cellared Says
Lenswood has become a reference point for modern Australian Chardonnay. It has the concentration and complexity expected of a flagship wine, but its real appeal is the control: finely judged oak, mineral drive and freshness rather than simple richness. A serious cellar prospect that belongs alongside Australia’s best cool-climate Chardonnays. Give this a few minutes to open up, it really is excellent.
Reviews
“Scintillating acidity, a gentle, savoury underbelly, crisp stone fruit and green apple characters, a distinct weave of saline minerality.”
97 Points – Mike Bennie, Halliday Wine Companion
“It blends flavour with sophistication with finesse with flair. The length on this beauty. The exquisite composure.”
97 Points – Campbell Mattinson
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