£13, Co-op
With a name like Cloudline, there are no prizes for guessing that this wine comes from high up. At 500m in the Eden Valley, it's one of Australia's highest vineyards, one where clouds gathering over the vineyard apparently line the horizon.
High means cool and cool means a Chardonnay with precision, expression and clean lines, or it does in the hands of Heggies Vineyard winery and the Hill-Smith family.
The mineral-edged flavours of peach, red apple and lemon are wrapped in a silky texture and lightly toasted, creamy cashew-nut oak and finish with an appetising lick of sea-spray and oyster-shell.
It's refreshing enough to drink as an aperitif but take it with you to the table because it's good food wine: a match for savoury tarts such as salmon and leek/spinach, crab or cheesy vegetable quiches; seafood including seared scallops and grilled prawns; fish such as cod or lemon sole; creamy pasta; lemony roast chicken; and even, slightly to my surprise, smoked duck breast. 13%. Screw cap.
Heggies Vineyard Cloudline Chardonnay 2022, Eden Valley, Australia
£13, about 200 Co-op stores nationwide
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