Description

Plantagenet Wyjup Chardonnay is pure enjoyment. It may improve with age, but it also inspires a lot of joy right now. 100% Gin Gin clone, hand-picked in two passes, whole-bunch pressed straight to tight-grain French oak with high solids. Bold and punchy: honeydew, cream, oyster shell, fresh curd and lemon.

Plantagenet Wines is best known as a pioneer of the Great Southern region. In 1968, an English migrant bought the Bouverie farm and planted Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon. Since then, Plantagenet has expanded the plantings and range. They have forged a reputation for well-acclaimed cool-climate wines that are a highlight from WA. The new ownership has doubled down on quality and showcasing their old-vine resources.

Wyjup is one of Western Australia’s original vineyard plantings. The first vines at this Mount Barker site were planted in 1971. Wyjup features Riesling, Chardonnay, Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec. These half-century-old vines in the cool Great Southern give concentrated fruit, minerality and real power.

Plantagenet Wyjup Chardonnay Mt Barker 2025 Wine Review

Ray Jordan
96 points
“Rich and beautifully textured, the palate is quite lavish while retaining impressive drive.”

Chardonnay

The grape that you can plant anywhere, in any climate and do anything to, and it will still taste like an OK wine. When people hit the sweet spot of site, climate, cropping and winemaking, Chardonnay becomes a magical wine that will age gracefully but charm you at any age. Chardonnays can range from cool-climate lean and citrusy to warmer climate tropical and overt. Oak and lees can add flavouring, as can malolactic fermentation.

Mt Barker

Falling within the South West Australia Zone and the region of Great Southern is Mt Barker. The region receives warm days with lots of sunlight, cool nights and near-perfect annual rainfall. This means the fruit gets perfectly ripe and the cool nights retains acidity. While it is probably Shiraz country, there is some amazing Riesling and Pinot Noir to be had too.

Australian Wine

The invasion of “Sunshine in a bottle” put Australian wine on the map.  The fruity, easy-going, somewhat samey wines were endearing for a short time. Then the next big thing knocked them off their perch.

This forced producers to increase quality and emphasise the distinctive terroirs of Australia. Of which, there are many. And many more yet to be discovered.

Wine

Wine is the result you get from fermented grape juice. There is proof of wine production dating back 8000 years ago. Fashions, innovations and many other factors have influenced the way wine has evolved over the years.

The wine grape is special. It contains everything you need to make grape wine except for the yeast, which lives on the outside of the skins.

Human inputs can influence the final product, including the viticulture (growing) choices. And the winemaker can shape the wine to a point too.

The best wines of the world often refer to terroir. Terroir is a French term that refers to all the climatic, geological and topographical influences on a specific piece of land. And it is true that neighbouring vineyards, grown identically, can taste noticeably different.

White Wine

It is interesting to know that you can make white wine from almost any grape. The colour comes from the skins, and if there is no contact, there is no colour. White wines tend to be delicate, perfumed, higher in acid and lower in alcohol. It seems for this and many other reasons, it is hard to make an incredibly impressive white wine. But those that have mastered the art are indeed some of the best winemakers in the world.

It is a falsehood to think that white wine does not age as well as red wine. But it is correct that white wine, as a rule, doesn’t age for as long.

The Wine Depository

I, Phil, have been running The Wine Depository since 2011. The Wine Depository exists to make sure you are drinking the good wines. You can browse and pick what is interesting to you. Or you can make contact with me. I’ll make sure you get what you want, to your palate, to your budget and to your door.