Beechworth is a small wine region in the north-east of Victoria producing really high-quality, age-worthy wines. This is such a great example of the complexity that a few years age can bring - this Chardonnay is from 2012 and is drinking incredibly well. Clever barrel work has given us a lovely mid-palate richness, with flavours of grilled almond, vanilla and marzipan. There's a lemon-curd richness to the wine, and plenty of power. A rich yet savoury wine with plenty of finesse.

For our money, Beechworth is home to many of the greatest wineries and wines on earth right now. Because on the one hand, there are the tried-and-tested classics - those wines that they know they do well, and arguably do better than anybody else. However, on the other, a fair few of them are ferociously unafraid to experiment, strike out on their own, and produce wines simply for the love of doing so. This spirit of experimentation can be seen with Dobler Wines, whose pursuit of great wines and exciting vineyards takes them from Orange in NSW to Beechworth and anywhere else they can. The Dobler family were determined to prove that if you take quality grapevines, cultivate them in superb terroirs, and leave them alone to develop their own flavour profiles and characters, the forces of nature are going to do the hard work for you. They knew they had access to the kind of vines other wineries would give their right arm for… so why not move around and try your luck? Any doubts surrounding the family’s abilities or wisdom have long since dissipated, and Dobler are blazing trails for others to follow in one of the Australia’s most impressive and underrated wine regions.