By Farr GC Cote Vineyard Chardonnay 2023

Winemaking and Drinking

By Farr GC Côte Vineyard Chardonnay – A Story in the Glass

There’s a certain magic in the Moorabool Valley part wind whispered legend, part winemaking tenacity. If you’ve wandered the gently undulating slopes of Geelong’s wine country, you may have seen the Côte Vineyard, clinging with quiet confidence to its north facing site. This is where the GC Côte Chardonnay begins its life though, in truth, its roots run deeper than soil.

Origins

Nick Farr, the second-generation winemaker at By Farr, has the sort of approach that feels less like "making" wine and more like coaxing it into being. His father, Gary Farr, carved the family name into Australian wine history through decades of dedication, and Nick has carried that baton with a mix of reverence and restless curiosity. GC—named for Gary Charles—pays homage to the man who planted both vines and values into this patch of Victoria.

The Côte Vineyard is a deliberate echo of the great Burgundian slopes its aspect capturing morning light, its limestone rich clay providing that taut, mineral backbone Chardonnay dreams of. Rows are planted at tight spacing, forcing the vines to dig deep and work harder, yielding grapes of remarkable concentration. The site sits in a natural amphitheatre, which tempers the Moorabool Valley’s cool climate with just enough warmth to ripen fruit with precision.

Tasting

Pour a glass and the wine speaks before you sip aromas of white peach and flint rise, joined by hints of toasted hazelnut and lemon zest. On the palate, GC Côte balances generosity with discipline: ripe stone fruit swells across the tongue, cut through by a fine seam of acidity and an unmistakable saline edge, like the memory of ocean spray. The oak is measured more a supporting actor than a scene stealer offering subtle spice and structure without dimming the fruit’s clarity.

This is not a Chardonnay you drink absentmindedly. It’s one you sit with, tracing its layers as they unfold. A wine that remembers where it came from, and invites you to do the same.