98 POINTS
Shanteh Wale - Winepilot
A smattering of quartzite, white apple flesh, and lemon aspen. Chalk dust and fennel seed. Nutmeg grated into white sauce, ground ginger, and the luxuriousness of triple-cream brie. The acidity dances with light, agile feet across the palate, while new oak is so artfully integrated you find yourself searching for the seams it’s been woven into. This is perhaps the most dialled-back expression of oak on the nose—not from lesser use, but from the way it has been entirely absorbed by the fruit and the wine’s palpable energy. Buoyant and spritely, its mealy mid-palate creaminess is swiftly chased by almond skin and a flicker of sea-flake salinity. A triumphant vintage of Chardonnay, and a testament to the vineyard’s impeccable quality—one that many fortunate visitors can now witness firsthand. This is as exciting as the 2023 but in a way that is more classic Chanel than Alexander McQueen. Drink with roast snapper collars and a squeeze of lemon. Drink now or will cellar for 6-10 years further.
98 POINTS
Dave Brookes - Halliday Wine Companion
Ooh-boy the Tolpuddle Chardonnay is in a good place. I guess you could call this vintage a 'classic'. A little more restraint and line than the '23; a little more filigree and nuance, those flinty/struck-match tones a little further back in the mix and woven through the wine in an intricate pattern. White peach, lemon, grapefruit and nectarine fruits are high fidelity and beautifully poised, suffused with soft spice, clover and grapefruit blossom, crushed stone, cinnamon, a murmur of vanillin oak and spiced poached pear, grilled hazelnuts, crème fraîche and a whisper of onshore breeze. Everything is in sharp relief, with the purest of fruit. It's all detail and tension, with a textural glaze of grapefruit pith and a sapid, mineral line that builds like a crescendo before releasing, finishing long and true. It's a stunner.
97 POINTS
Huon Hooke - The Real Review
Bright light yellow colour with a whiff of reduction early, which cleared a little to reveal acacia honey, lemon essence and hints of snuffed candle. The wine is precise and refined on the tongue, with great intensity of fruit flavour harmoniously intertwined with refreshing acidity, resulting in a seamless whole that glides very long through the aftertaste. Gorgeous chardonnay, and it will be long-lived.
96 POINTS
Campbell Mattinson
This release is strikingly intense, strikingly long, strikingly textural and strikingly flinty. It has flavours and scents flying here there and everywhere. Grapefruit, steel, struck matches, garden mint, grilled peaches, smoke and preserved lemon characters drive through the palate with authority. It’s polished and harmonious but everything is emphatic here. It’s a super release. 96 points.
96 POINTS
Andrew Caillard MW - The Vintage Journal
Pale colour. Beautiful pure grapefruit, verbena, grilled nut aromas with honey/ marzipan, touch lanolin notes. Pure supple and minerally with fresh grapefruit, lemon curd, marzipan flavors, slippery/ saline notes on the mid-palate and high-pitched crisp acidity. Al dente finish with superb mineral length. Very good volume and richness of flavour while possessing tension and vigour. Should age beautifully well if one dares to wait. Drink now - 2038 13% alc
95 POINTS
Mike Bennie - The Wine Front
So, it was very nice to see Michael Hill Smith and Tildie Hill Smith in person, dropping these wines off in Sydney to me. More so that the 2017 chardonnay and pinot accompanied. Good chats ensued, and a kindness to try 2017 versions of these new releases tucked in the sample pack alongside. The 2017 chardonnay is in good form, relaxed now somewhat, saline and minerally, supple and a little pleasing in its chubby way, and savoury, and in very good shape. Hello 2024.
Flint, the main thing here. A struck match and steely mineral combo from first whiff through to last, cool and crisp finish. Smoky, stony things throughout the wine, a cool, bright flavour profile too, quite delicate, lemon-lime, Japanese pickled ginger, tart, green apple juice and some faint, cedar and a cooling tonic water edge to the wine. Crystalline texture, glassy and bright, a crunch to texture too that feels pleasing. It has all the right moves for a wine detailed by edifice of flint and winemaking approach. It should win a lot of friends in this en vogue style, done well.
