One super enticing, downright stylish wine bursting in la dolce vita. 95 points.
Halliday Wine Companion
The Chalmers family is in a league of its own when it comes to pushing boundaries. Bruce and Jenni Chalmers, followed by their intrepid daughters, burst through the Francophile frontier behind which Australia once toiled unquestioningly, bringing with them an army of forward-thinking producers, catalysed by a crop of grape varieties that suit our various regional climates.
They’ve rung these positive changes to the Australian wine landscape with such enthusiasm, energy and efficiency that one might overlook the deep, sensitive consideration that goes into every decision they make. This is especially true of the Chalmers range of wines. Remember that Bruce and Jenni began growing grapes in the 1980s and had steadily nurtured their vineyard into one of the largest and most diverse in the country long before the family name first appeared on a bottle of wine in 2004.
Kim’s winemaker husband, Bart Van Olphen, completed the family team in 2011, and this second-gen trio has fine-tuned every aspect of the growing and raising of the wines. The varietal wines that have entered the range have undergone a breeding programme of their own, rising through the ranks of Chalmers Project experimentation. They then found their feet, literally and figuratively, in the distinctive dirt of the Heathcote vineyard. They became fully realised as unforced wines that express the combination of their varietal DNA and that of the rocky Mount Camel soils.
The Top Block at Heathcote is their finest sliver of dirt, lovingly tended by 2025 Halliday Wine Companion Viticulturalist of the Year finalist Troy McInnes. The slope rises to 225 metres and comprises basalt, shale, sandstone, dolerite, quartz and limestone. Plantings span Aglianico, Sagrantino, Nero d’Avola, Piedirosso and Falanghina—grape varieties with proven pedigree, which ripen with beautiful balance into late April.
Bart has a well-honed sixth sense with these varieties in this place, and the time has come to share with you the fruits of audacious, unstinting labour. For all the hard work, this wine couldn’t look more effortless if it tried. Serious quality and joyous drinking, it sums up the family endeavour. The wine will only be produced in exceptional vintages, and the blend will vary depending on what best captures the magic of the block in that year.
This first edition is about a third each Aglianico and Sagrantino, with 14% each of Nero d’Avola and Piedirosso and a 4% dash of Falanghina. It paints a beautiful picture of this slice of Italian-accented Australiana. It is floral, brightly fruited, mineral and spicy, with a lacy, flowing texture, underpinned by frolicking acidity and powdery tannins. It’s unique and exciting, and we heartily commend it to you.
TOP BLOCK – BY CHALMERS
The inaugural release of Top Block is Chalmers in microcosm, capturing the essence of the family’s philosophy and collective experience. The varieties are familiar, but the composition is wholly individual, as is the critical reflection of the rock-laden block on Heathcote’s Mount Camel Range. And, as always, both fruit and place are articulated with a light touch, uncluttered by winemaking artefact.
The Chalmers Heathcote vineyard is planted east to west on a gradual east-facing slope, with the lower reaches from 150 to 210 metres largely on classic red Cambrian soil. From about 210 metres to the top of the site at 225 metres, the change is marked. In the Top Block, gone are the fertile soils, yielding to tougher, rockier and hungrier ones shot through with complex geology, featuring basalt, shale, sandstone, dolerite, quartz and limestone.
This Top Block, regardless of variety, has always made distinctly different wines. There are natural limitations due to the ancient soils, with compact vines, low yields and modest bunches of smaller berries. Even from the initial evidence, a decade and a half ago, this block had something special about it, with an elegance—yet still inherent power—and core of mineral resonance in the wines. Early on, all grapes from the Top Block were exclusively made by Chalmers, though now select parcels are being shared with other winemakers.
Standing atop the ridge, evidence of the land’s volcanic origin is visible in the rocky seams and folds of undulant terrain that force the noble struggle of the vines on the
windswept slope. Like any distinguished site, that physical and visual experience helps to make a through-line to understanding the reflection of place in glass. With that site expression so clearly conveyed in the varietal wines, there was the confidence to blend the grapes that had excelled in the Top Block over time, both red and white, moving into a new space that hinges not on grape but sings purely of place.
The composition of the 2023 is 34% each of Aglianico and Sagrantino, 14% of Nero d’Avola and Piedrosso, with 4% Falanghina completing the blend. In the future, the new plantings of Nerello Mascalese and Carricante will be incorporated into the blend, and the percentage of the varieties will also shift with the seasons. The extension of this, being the best and most distinctive part of the vineyard, is refined further through a heightened intensity of detailed management applied to carefully earmarked sub-sections of the best-performing vines in each varietal plot. Furthermore, the wine will only be released from exemplary vintages.
The intention is to bring those varieties together to work in harmony, none overshadowing the others. The Aglianico from the block is elegant and savoury, while Sagrantino offers power and structure. Piedirosso has a meaty, iodine-like character and unique floral perfume. When picked at tannin maturity, it brings a plushness that fills out the mid-palate and complements the savouriness of the major contributors. Nero from the block has a lifted prettiness of fruit and always expresses regional char and smokiness, while Falanghina adds a polished freshness.
In the winery, the making is very simple, classic Chalmers, giving primacy to site. Yeasts were, and always are, native. The fruit’s quiet power allowed for extended time on skins and a longer élevage in older French oak. This wine is as much ‘made’ as it is grown; a fresh approach for Chalmers. The concept was born when winemaker Bart van Olphen suggested that after years of refining the very narrowly focused varietal expressions at the core of the range, it was time for a new exploration of site, zooming out for a wider view of the Top Block’s personality.
“I remember Bart and Tennille talking about this Top Block blend idea, and I was not convinced at first. Making a wine that is blended on the bench? That’s not Chalmers,” says Kim. “I was wrong. The level of nuance and wholly original perspective this wine delivers takes my respect for the Top Block to a new level. The sensitivity of touch in the winery – intuitively coaxing each variety on its own path, then finding the perfect balance of those elements later when the wines are past their adolescence – shows true craftsmanship.”
2023 Chalmers Top Block RRP $75
Vines imported by Chalmers: 2000 + 2001 + 2015
First Top Block produced by Chalmers: 2023
Region: Heathcote, Victoria
Soil type: Basalt, shale, sandstone, dolerite, quartz, limestone
Elevation: 210 – 225m
Vintage: 2023
Rainfall: 754mm
Harvest: 23rd and 26th March and 5th and 28th April 2023.
Blend: Aglianico 34%, Sagrantino 34%, Nero d’Avola 14%, Piedirosso 14%, Falanghina 4%
Winemaking: Wild ferment, whole berry, open fermenter, extended maceration, aged for 18 months in old French barriques, unfined, vegan, contains sulphites
Style: Composed, distinct
Sensory: Cherry, autumn leaf, rocky earth, tobacco, plum
Alc/Vol: 13.4%
34/34/14/14/4% aglianico/sagrantino/nero d’Avola/piedirosso/falanghina. Aged 18 months in old oak. Italian red and white varieties join forces to produce one super enticing, downright stylish wine bursting in la dolce vita. Deep crimson. Aromas rich in aromatic florals, blueberry, red fruits, black cherry, chocolate and spice. Offers a fineness in flavour, the five grapes beautifully integrated, with a fine tannin tension. So graceful in repose. So good. Only 850 bottles produced. 95 points. Jeni Port, Halliday Wine Companion Jan 2025
