Savaterre

Savaterre is a small, fiercely individual estate in the granite hills of Beechworth, in northeast Victoria. It was founded by Keppell Smith, who left careers in policing and foreign exchange to chase a Burgundian ideal, planting his first vines in 1996 on an elevated site just across the road from the celebrated Giaconda.

Smith's approach is unashamedly Old World, shaped by time in Burgundy at Domaine Henri Gouges and alongside Phillip Jones at Bass Phillip. The vineyard sits around 440 metres above sea level on ancient granitic soils, farmed organically and kept to naturally low yields. In the cellar the philosophy is minimal intervention: wild-yeast ferments, gentle basket pressing, and long ageing on lees in the finest French oak. The result is a tightly focused range built on purity, minerality and the patience to age.

Chardonnay is the estate's calling card, led by the flagship Savaterre Chardonnay and its younger sibling, the 'Frere Cadet'. These are wines of restraint and tension that reward time in the glass and the cellar alike.