Ada River, 2025

Closer to white Burgundy than to big buttery Aussie chardonnay: white peach, hazelnut and a stony edge from old, never-watered vines in Gippsland.

Patrick Sullivan trained as a viticulturist, and calls his approach 'maximum intervention' in the vineyard rather than minimal. Ada River is a single hectare at Neerim South, in the foothills of Mount Baw Baw, planted in 1982 on deep volcanic soil over basalt and never irrigated. 2025 was wet, then hot, and picked early and fast. White peach, toasted hazelnut and citrus zest, generous and powerful. Bright acid and a mineral edge hold it tight. The most classical of his single sites.