2025 Salo Yarra Valley Chardonnay | 96+ Halliday | 96 Wine Front

🔥 96+ & 96 POINTS | ONE OF THE YARRA VALLEY'S CULT CHARDONNAYS

This is seriously exciting Chardonnay.

Might be the Chardonnay of the Year when you weigh up Price and Quality. Extraordinary wine

96+ Points – Halliday Wine Companion
96 Points – Campbell Mattinson 
96 Points – The Wine Pilot

Yarra Valley, Victoria

RRP $55

This is seriously exciting Chardonnay.

The 2025 Salo Yarra Valley Chardonnay is the latest release from the long-running collaboration between two outstanding winemakers, Steve Flamsteed and Dave Mackintosh. Salo makes just one Chardonnay cuvée, and the 2025 comes from the Full Moon Vineyard at Gladysdale in the Upper Yarra Valley.

And the scores tell you exactly where the quality sits:

96+ Halliday • 96 Wine Front • 96 Wine Pilot

At $55, this is an outstanding buy.

96+ Points – Halliday Wine Companion

It's a wine of precision and tension, but there's enough texture and fruit weight to stop it becoming lean or austere.

Tasting Notes

Expect a beautifully complex combination of:

White Peach • Nectarine • Citrus Peel • Preserved Lemon • White Blossom • Flint • Almond Meal • Subtle Salinity

The palate is tight and energetic initially, then opens into a gorgeous creamy texture with lemon-sorbet freshness, bright acidity and a long, savoury, chalky finish.

Campbell Mattinson was particularly impressed, awarding 96 points.

 Full Moon Vineyard – Upper Yarra

The fruit comes from the Full Moon Vineyard at Gladysdale, high in the Upper Yarra.

This vineyard has been central to Salo for many years, but there's a bittersweet element to the 2025: Halliday reports that the vineyard has now been pulled out, meaning this is the final Salo Chardonnay from this site. Salo has another vineyard lined up for 2026.

That makes the 2025 more than simply another vintage.

It's the end of the Full Moon Vineyard chapter for Salo.

Winemaking

The fruit was hand-picked and whole-bunch pressed, with the juice transferred by gravity to seasoned 500-litre puncheons with full solids.

Fermentation occurred naturally, while approximately 50% underwent spontaneous malolactic fermentation to build texture and mid-palate complexity. There was no lees stirring, and the wine was bottled unfined after coarse filtration.

The philosophy is classic Salo:

Great fruit. Minimal interference. Let the vineyard do the talking.

Salo itself says the aim is to use intuitive, hands-off winemaking to produce gritty, textured and beautiful wines.

Steve Flamsteed & Dave Mackintosh

Salo was established in 2008 by Steve Flamsteed and Dave Mackintosh.

Flamsteed spent close to two decades at Giant Steps, helping establish its reputation for elite Yarra Valley Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, while Mackintosh is the man behind Arfion.

Salo is their side project—but there's nothing secondary about the quality.

This is Chardonnay made by two winemakers who understand the Yarra Valley intimately.

Why We Love It

This is one of those wines where everything lines up:

96+ Points – Halliday Wine Companion

96 Points – The Wine Front

96 Points – The Wine Pilot

Full Moon Vineyard, Gladysdale

Upper Yarra Valley

Steve Flamsteed & Dave Mackintosh

White Peach, Citrus & Preserved Lemon

Flinty, Chalky Minerality

Wild Fermentation & Seasoned Puncheons

Final vintage from the Full Moon Vineyard

And the price?

$55.

For Chardonnay of this quality, from winemakers of this calibre, that's exceptional value.

If you love Giant Steps, Oakridge, Toolangi, Yarra Yering, Bicknell FC or Australia's new generation of precise, mineral Chardonnay, the 2025 Salo absolutely belongs on your list.

For Chardonnay of this quality, from winemakers of this calibre, that's exceptional value.

If you love Giant Steps, Oakridge, Toolangi, Yarra Yering, Bicknell FC or Australia's new generation of precise, mineral Chardonnay, the 2025 Salo absolutely belongs on your list.

96+ Halliday. 96 Campbell Mattinson. 96 Wine Pilot. $55.

The 2025 Salo Chardonnay is a brilliant final expression of the Full Moon Vineyard – precise, textured, mineral and seriously delicious.

Searching for exceptional Yarra Valley Chardonnay? The 2025 Salo Yarra Valley Chardonnay is a 96+ point Upper Yarra Chardonnay from Steve Flamsteed and Dave Mackintosh, offering white peach, nectarine, citrus, flint and almond meal with chalky minerality, bright acidity and exceptional length.