Chalmers Wines, Heathcote (Victoria, Australia) 2021

 This is a wickedly good wine — complex and intriguing — at a price that defies belief in relation to its complexity, production techniques, and remoteness of origin.  I spent more than a week tasting stunning wines in Victoria earlier this year, but major spine surgery already planned for 30 hours after landing back in DC has delayed my ability to write up my findings.  I didn’t visit this producer, but now I wish I had, as this is a hand-picked, co-fermented with wild yeast blend of:  Ribolla Gialla, Falanghina, Vermentino, Pecorino, Finao, Moscato Giallo, and Inzolia (in descending order of prominence).  Stated differently, this is a vinous tour of almost all of Italy, and a delicious one, too.  Fully medium-bodied, it doesn’t show the slightest hint of oxidation (thank you, screw cap) or undesirable development.  It is nearly as complex as the roster of varieties suggests, which is pretty damned impressive.  The fruit flavors include green apples, multiple orchard fruits, citrus notes, and wonderful finishing accents that might be mineral or might be tertiary aging notes — or both.  Not having seen the site nor tasted more than one vintage of this, I grant that I would be guessing on that last issue.  What is utterly clear is that this manages to be harmonious rather than discordant — which it might well be given the wildly dissimilar varietal components.  I worry that I’ve underscored this.  My sample came from Williams Corner Wine, an importer and distributor in the Washington, DC area.