Flametree SRS Chardonnay 2023 6 Pack

97 POINTS

Erin Larkin - Robert Parker Wine Advocate

I judge at many wine shows each year, and occasionally a wine will sweep through the shows—no matter the city, the matrix of judges and palates and the combination of wines entered. It is exciting when this happens, and it is a reminder that great wines will prevail, no matter the conditions. Here, the 2023 SRS Wallcliffe Chardonnay did very well in the Australian wine show system in 2024, and I was judging at two shows where this wine swept the results with gold medals; and it later won multiple trophies. It is better than I've ever seen it looking on release, and it seems to be a combination of perfect growing conditions of 2023 and a more restrained approach to reduction and sulfides in the wine. It has notes of curry leaf, yellow peach, salty ocean air, saltbush, pressed incense and white flowers. It is a classy wine that has been cleverly made, and it's a beautiful representation of the vintage and the region in equal measure. Despite the points—and what do they matter except to rank—I believe this is the best SRS Chardonnay that has ever been made to date. Highly recommended. 13% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

97 POINTS

Cassandra Charlick - Decanter

Plenty of flint, lemon pith and sea spray, with white blossom and delicate perfume. The palate shows volume, clarity and power that's streamlined, not forceful. Length goes on and on with fine, detailed character. Lively energy with firm tannins and lacy yet powerful acidity. Exhilarating wine with remarkable persistence and intensity. Exceptional concentration and drive. Single vineyard from Wallcliffe, matured in 35% new French puncheons for 10 months with no malo or lees stirring.

96 POINTS

Campbell Mattinson - The Wine Front

If you don’t like a bit of flint or struck match character in your chardonnay, probably best that you look away now. This wine is influenced significantly by those characters. There is also though a brilliant intensity to the fruit, and quite wonderful length, and a textural element that is both soft and conductive of the wine’s acidity at the same time. This is a hard wine to put down; it’s magnificently complex and more-ish at once. It tastes essentially of grapefruit, citrus, grilled peach and smoked cedarwood, though those saline, flinty characters are also ever-present. The length of this. The inherent power. It’s a scorching chardonnay.

96 POINTS

Angus Hughson - Winepilot

This sublime young 2023 Chardonnay delivers impressive purity and focus as it opens up with highly complex layers of citrus peel, rockmelon and gun flint topped by finely integrated oak. This stylish and sophisticated Chardonnay is a winner with a delightful seamlessness, al-dente acidity, chalky phenolics and creamy fruit textures intertwined to deliver a long and confident finish.

96 POINTS

Angus Hughson - Vinous

The sublime 2023 Chardonnay SRS Wallcliffe delivers impressive purity and focus. It opens up with highly complex layers of citrus peel, rockmelon and gunflint, all topped by finely integrated oak. This stylish and sophisticated Chardonnay is a winner with a delightful seamlessness, al dente acidity, chalky phenolics, creamy fruit textures and a long, confident finish.