2016 Clairault Black Label Chardonnay

96 POINTS

James Halliday - Halliday Wine Companion

Hand-picked, chilled, whole-bunch pressed, fermented in French barriques (40% new), matured on lees for 9 months. A wine of rare purity, intensity and length. Grapefruit is the dominant flavour, white peach and Granny Smith apple adding to the complexity. French oak plays its all-important role in providing structure and texture, its flavour unimportant.

92 POINTS

Decanter

Gentle note of smoky oak behind ripe stone fruit. Textured and layered, with lush fruit oozing on the palate. Super-delicate nougat, vanilla bean and spicy oak provide an oily, textured, good finish. Judges: Sarah Ahmed, Roger Jones, Anthony Rose

91 POINTS

Wine Spectator

Pear, nectarine and lemon curd flavors are precise and intense, with a laser beam of focus and a juicy finish that expands into notes of dried flowers and spice.

91 POINTS

Mike Bennie - The Wine Front

I don’t know what it is about Clairault, but it is home to some of the nicest people in Margaret River, from viticulture to winemaking to marketing to administration – a formidable team of good people in on a common cause, or so it feels. And the grape growing is shifting increasingly to low-intervention too. Nice. Juicy white of good intensity, freshness and even a sense of ‘elegance’. Dials in plenty of fresh fruit flavour, light mineral detail, crisp acidity and a well-meshed balance of all these elements. Good drive too. Nicely done.

90 POINTS

Josh Raynolds - Vinous

Limpid yellow. Ripe orange and pear scents are sharpened by suggestions of spicy ginger and dusty minerals. Chewy and focused on the palate, offering juicy orchard and citrus fruit flavors and a hint of smokiness. Closes on a repeating pear note, with very good persistence and a lingering touch of honeysuckle.

90 POINTS

Christina Pickard - Wine Enthusiast

This Chard needs plenty of swirling in glass or time in decanter to open up but when it does offers delicate notes of lemon, melon, snow pea, white spice and oyster shell. Medium bodied, the citrusy, zingy acidity and a velvety texture are framed by toasty oak. This classy wine is still in its youth. Drink 2020–2027.