Maxwell Vineyard Chardonnay
⏳ Drinking Window
2021 - 2026
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Roasted chicken, pan-seared salmon, creamy mushroom risotto
✨ Technical Specifications
While Brokenwood's historic Maxwell Vineyard in the Hunter Valley is globally renowned for producing exceptional, long-lived Semillon, Brokenwood also crafts an acclaimed range of single-vineyard Chardonnays from premium, cool-climate sites across New South Wales and Victoria, such as Orange, Tumbarumba, and Beechworth. Brokenwood's Chardonnay style represents the modern Australian paradigm: moving away from heavy, over-oaked styles toward elegance, restraint, and vibrant acidity. The winemaking philosophy emphasizes minimal intervention, utilizing wild yeast fermentations, French oak barriques, and lees stirring to build textural complexity and a creamy mouthfeel without overshadowing the pristine stone fruit and citrus characters.
🍾 About the Producer
Established in 1970 by Sydney lawyers Tony Albert, John Beeston, and acclaimed wine critic James Halliday, Brokenwood Wines began on a modest 10-acre block in Pokolbin within the Hunter Valley of New South Wales. Guided for decades by veteran managing director and chief winemaker Iain Riggs, the estate evolved from a passionate weekend venture into one of Australia's most prestigious and benchmark wine producers. Brokenwood embraces a philosophy of precise, low-intervention winemaking designed to let terroir and varietal clarity shine across both estate-grown Hunter Valley fruit and carefully selected parcels across Australia. The winery has achieved global acclaim particularly for its crisp, cellar-worthy Hunter Valley Semillons and its flagship Graveyard Vineyard Shiraz, alongside popular lifestyle bottlings like the iconic Cricket Pitch label.
🍇 Grape Varieties
Chardonnay