2023 Swinging Bridge Caldwell Lane Chardonnay

96 POINTS

Shanteh Wale - Halliday Wine Companion

The juice is racked to the barrel with some solids and left to ferment. The barrels consist of 20% new hogsheads and puncheons, with the rest varying up to five years of age. The wine is held in barrel for 10 months and initially stirred every couple of weeks. The wine captures rays of sunshine spilling through a lead crystal window. Colourful and multidimensional. It's filled with Meyer lemon cream, sweet orchard apples and hints at tropical yellow guava. Savvy oak use shows in cinnamon dust and new pine furnishings. A wild ride of tantalising acidity pulls at the seams and carries the fruit onwards and upwards. It builds power with each sip and yet gracefully ebbs and flows across the palate. A wine that holds your attention and will age beautifully over the next decade and more.

93 POINTS

Campbell Mattinson - The Wine Front

Swinging Bridge is turning out some mighty fine chardonnay. This is right on the cusp in terms of ripeness – it sits on the lean side – but there’s enough texture and flavour to make it work and the finish is totally convincing. It tastes of lemon, lime, grapefruit and nectarine with grilled peach characters building or rising through the finish. There’s a lactic element, and a whisper of honeysuckle, and beautifully integrated cedarwood notes. I’m scoring this at 93+ now but give this another couple of years in bottle and I’d fully expect it to score higher.