Petaluma - Château Malartic Lagraviere - Château de Fonbel

96 Points - James Halliday "Hand-picked, 14 days on skins, 20 months in French barriques and hogsheads (72% new). Good depth to the colour; a powerful, medium to full-bodied shiraz expressing place, variety and vinification to maximum benefit. The black cherry and satsuma plum fruit has the usual cool grown exotic spices, and the tannins do their job to perfection."

94 Points - Decanter "The generosity of the 2009 vintage comes through here and, as with the 2015, I love how it suits this terroir, providing a wonderful counterpoint to the natural austerity of soils with gravel over limestone. Liquorice, dark chocolate, tobacco leaf and grilled sarments are all wrapped up with fresh blackberries. It has a lovely generosity, but with freshness and sophistication."

94 Points - Neal Martin "The Malartic-Lagraviere ‘09 is evolving into one of the finest wines that the estate has ever produced. It has a more introverted bouquet with dark berry fruit, undergrowth and iodine. With rigorous swirling it still refuses to unfurl. The palate is medium-bodied with very fine tannins. It builds nicely towards a lovely black olive and spice tinged finish that exudes finesse. Superb."

95-96 Points - James Suckling

A fresh white with sliced green apple, lemon rind and cream. Full body, bright acidity and a long and flavorful finish. Layered and very dense. Wonderful backbone.

94-96 Points - Neal Martin

The 2015 Malartic Lagraviere Blanc is a blend of 85% Sauvignon Blanc and 15% Semillon that was picked from 8-15 September and matured in 65% new oak. It has a crisp, vibrant, quite minerally bouquet, cold limestone and subtle patisserie/almost whipped cream-like scents. The palate is very well defined with a crisp line of acidity, citrus lemon and lime fanning out with confidence on the finish that completes one of the best Malartic-Lagravière whites that I have encountered at this stage.

95 Points - Neal Martin "The 2016 Malartic-Lagravière has a wonderful bouquet of perfumed, mainly red fruit laced with potpourri, black olive tapenade and light brine-like aromas - a bouquet full of personality. The fresh, harmonious palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin, a fine bead of acidity and just the right amount of salinity toward the loam-tinged finish. Bon vin from the Bonnies."

97 Points - James Halliday

The wine lives up to its reputation as one of Australia's greatest chardonnays, and you wonder why it isn't more frequently mentioned in dispatches. The answer is at least partly due to the very small amounts judged by Petaluma to be up to the strict standards set. Grapefruit leads the superb flavours of the palate, white peach in close attendance. The acidity is precise, the oak merely a means to an end.