Chardonnay has had a long and strange history in Australia. Cuttings were brought in by James Busby in 1832 and given its massive popularity these days you might imagine we’ve been slurping Chardy since then but the reality is that it wasn’t until the 1970s that Chardonnay was bottled as a single varietal and even then the labelling was as about as a transparent as a politician 6 months out from an election....

What a decade the 90s was! A quick poll in the office had my colleagues recalling happy pants, grunge, MC Hammer, 90210, mobile phones, the twilight of the Hawke/Keating era, Monica Lewinsky and of course... Chardonnay....

Considerably cooler than the surrounding plains, the hills are washed in rain during winter months, and the peaks wrapped in fog. It is considered a high rainfall region compared to other Australian regions, but outside of winter the climate is warm and dry. Night time temperatures are the feature – notably cooler than the day when the sun sets....

Don't let the prawn on the barbie cliche spook you. This is as contempo as you care, but why would you? Just enjoy....

Classy number from some blokes called George Calombaris & Gary Mehigan - you've probably never heard of them....