Cellar Favorite: 2024 Giaconda Whites

BY ANGUS HUGHSON | APRIL 20, 2026

After a set of more understated releases from the cool, challenging 2023 season, with lighter weight and more vibrant acidity than usual, Giaconda is back in top form in 2024 with a brace of stellar wines. While Chardonnay is always the leading light, a small plot of Roussanne has over the years become the source of one of Australia’s leading examples of this variety. The cooling influence from the estate’s location on the edge of the Australian Alps delivers a powerful yet beautifully defined expression that ages supremely well.

Thanks to the third consecutive La Niña vintage in 2024, the season again started cool but—importantly—dry, without the significant rainfall of 2023. That 2023 rain delivered good soil moisture to start the 2024 growing season, which was then topped up by decent rain in October and January. The weather remained cool until February, before a late stretch of hot and dry weather brought on the harvest without any stress. Chardonnay was picked by the end of February. This burst of heat was really necessary to help the dominant P58 Chardonnay clone hit its optimal ripeness. While the weather cooled, it remained relatively warm and dry for Roussanne to be picked in late March.

The 2024 Chardonnay Estate Vineyard is a picture of poise and power. Smoky, flinty elements lead from the front, well supported by rich aromas of musky peach, oat bran and just-ripe nectarine. All is enhanced by a thick, velvety blanket of French oak. The 2024 delivers brilliant complexity amongst a powerhouse of flavour, laced with fine layers of cream and buttered popcorn and underpinned by piercing acidity. What stands out most of all is the finish: intense, precise, dignified and sustained, holding its shape and tension for what seems like an eternity. A classic vintage with a long life ahead. 99/Drink 2032-2048.

The 2024 Roussanne Estate Vineyard is beautifully composed, offering up a powerful yet refined blend of cantaloupe, brown pear, musk and earthy tones enforced by marked yet balanced French oak. Densely packed flavours remain light on their feet thanks to creamy acidity, and while the oak feels a little heavy right now, it is sure to hit its mark with more years in bottle. The key to this wine is restrained power, holding through to a strong, sustained finish of outstanding length. 96/Drink 2030-2038.

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