97 POINTS
Jane Faulkner - Halliday Wine Companion
Just an observation but Suckfizzle is now price-matched to the Luminosa as of this vintage. Fair enough, as both are superb expressions of the variety, site and region. An excellent vintage yet the wines need more cellar time, they are tight. This is as flinty as fireworks, with mouth-watering sulphides that infuse the grapefruit and lemon flavours. It’s steely cool with snips of fresh herbs, oyster shell and lemon saline, almost a sea-spray character, that’s so alluring. The oak (38% new and aged nine months) is superbly integrated, the texture light as a feather, as lemon sorbet-like acidity glides across the finely tuned palate.
97 POINTS
Christina Pickard - Wine Enthusiast
From one of Australia's consistently great producers, the latest vintage of the memorably named Suckfizzle entices from first sniff with pithy aromas of grapefruit and melon rind. There's salty seashell and toast notes, and a subtle struck match character. The acidity shines like a beacon, bringing flavors and textures together into one elegant yet powerful wine that pulses to a long finish. It drinks beautifully now but could cellar for at least a decade.
97 POINTS
Cassandra Charlick - Decanter
Real funk, cheese rind, gunflint and lemon with a salt-baked note. Mid-weight abundance but not fleshy. White nectarine, fresh herbs, just toasty oak, toasty cashew, yellow grilled peach, curry leaf and nutmeg spice. A humdinger with softness and malleability. Lively, spunky character, great acid drive. Salinity and shape with fine phenolics. Long finish of fine fruit. From the Suckfizzle single vineyard, the most southerly vineyard in Margaret River. Wild-fermented on full solids in French oak barriques, aged for nine months with minimal batonnage. Unfined and unfiltered.
96 POINTS
Jeni Port - Winepilot
How can one wine producer boast so much extraordinary quality Chardonnay? Stella Bella stars with both Luminosa and Suckfizzle Chardonnays! It’s something to ponder while you open a bottle and pour this super charged Margaret River lovely. Offers a regional chardonnay celebration starring sunny stone fruits, citrus and white flowers all rolled up into one beautifully refined and complex whole. Along the way, there will be layers of toasted hazelnuts, a little vanilla bean, almond skin and baked bread with some tart quince grip and a whisper of preserved lemon savouriness. Tightly wound, length is assured as is the high pleasure factor.
96 POINTS
Gary Walsh - The Wine Front
From the most southern vineyard in Margaret River. A great vintage for Chardonnay is 2023.
Distinct sea spray character here, rockpools and the like, lime and lime rind, pink grapefruit, light spicy oak, aniseed, white flowers, and slight struck match. It’s a cool and pure wine, all the citrus fruits, almond, saline character, spice, freshness and quiet flavour, fine chalky grip, with a lively finish of outstanding length. Top shelf.
96 POINTS
Erin Larkin - Robert Parker Wine Advocate
The 2023 Suckfizzle Chardonnay is distinctly maritime on the nose, with an explosively acidic and intensely fruity palate, with white peach, white pineapple, saline acidity and layers of sulfide and phenolic texture. The acidity, to mention it a third time, is formidable, which is no doubt a combination of several factors: the southerly position of the vineyard, the Gingin clone and eschewing malolactic fermentation—the intensity of this aspect may polarize, although I personally believe that it is in part what makes Margaret River Chardonnay so special. The 2023 season was truly sensational in Margaret River, especially for the white varieties. The year was mild, long and dry, devoid of major viticultural challenges and, across the board, responsible for wines of detail, poise and balance. This is the year to cellar and buy; drink the 2022s while you wait. This wine is no exception; the length of flavor through the finish reveals the pedigree and quality of the vineyard. This is now the same price as the Luminosa Chardonnay. 13% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.
Focused and sophisticated aromas of lemon curd, apple blossoms, nougat and flint., The palate is medium-bodied with bright acidity, giving notes of kaffir limes, grapefruit and fresh pineapple. Tightly wound and high energy, with a touch of class.
94 POINTS
2025 - Decanter World Wine Awards
Flinty nose, showing aromas of red apple, lemon zest, stone fruit and saline nuances. Racy acidity on the palate. Long.
Award: Silver - DWWA 2025
