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The 1er blocks are across the road from the original Hoddles Creek Estate property. The 1er Chardonnay and Pinot Noir blocks were planted in 2001. The Chardonnay vines are planted on the crest of a hill facing east, and the clones are Bernard 95, 96 and 277. According to Franco, it’s always been a unique site; it gets picked two weeks later than all other Chardonnay on the property, which goes some way to explaining its ripeness and complexity. The fruit was picked by hand, destemmed, lightly crushed and pressed. It spent 12 months in barrel (25% new) in the cellar downstairs, followed by a winter in tank upstairs to settle naturally. The wine saw partial malolactic conversion (approximately 20-25%) and was bottled unfined and unfiltered. From a low-cropping year, Franco has crafted another beautifully balanced, savoury and refined Chardonnay—it’s just a pity there’s not more of it.