Ocean Eight 2013 Verve Chardonnay

I'm hugely impressed by the estate-grown and -bottled Ocean Eight wines that Michael Aylward is producing on the Mornington Peninsula. The Aylward family has a track record, of course, having helped found regional benchmark Kooyong, but the Ocean Eight wines stand out for their purity and fruit intensity. This is very much in the mould of Chablis with lime and grapefuit zest flavours to the fore, slatey minerality and impressive acid backbone. It is drinking very well as a young wine, too, and would be a perfect partner for oysters or a char-grilled lobster. Excellent, but made in small quantities, so it is the quick and the wineless. $50. www.oceaneight.com.au.