What a great release, fresh and mineral yet showing a touch of the sun from the warmer vintage. Aromas of Meyer lemons, oyster shell, shortbread, crushed river stones and grapefruit pith. The refined palate is tightly wound with focused acidity and underlying power that will only develop. So much generosity with a hint of funk, pure drive and a precise, compact style. Excellent.
96 POINTS
Cyndal Petty - Winepilot
A great showcase of Margaret River’s ability to make dense, dank and highly enjoyable Chardonnay. This wine is undeniably from the region. It speaks of the southwest’s oceans, people and the infamous Gin Gin clone. Green mango, apricot kernel, tangerine zest and candied orange peel. Power and wild elegance. In the mouth, the fruit is deep, sticky and salty. The acid frames the wine, with fruit, phenolic grip and generosity draped over it. Dried cumquat, spiced lime sorbet, mandarin oil, wet pavement and struck match. It has an old man’s strength, but childlike surprise. A lot is going on. And I’m all about it.
95 POINTS
Shanteh Wale - Winepilot
100% wild yeast and mature in 30% new French oak barriques for 10 months and a further 5 months in tank. This burst with the pedigree and reverence of Margaret River with the pin point precision we have come to know of Vasse Felix. Lemon sorbet, talc and donut peach. Frangipani, summer sunshine and almond butter. Here fruit power is matched by swathes of velvet texture, fine natural acidity and long lasting flavour, more than moments it echoes with vanilla, grapefruit and soft butter. This is outstanding value, across the globe a wine that stands very tall indeed. Drink now or cellar for another 5-8 years. A perfect pairing with fettucini and picked crab meat.
A slightly more generous style of chardonnay, showing richness and concentration while retaining fine linear precision. Minerally lemon curd with a savoury edge, intense and sustained. One of the best under this label.
95 POINTS
Jane Faulkner - Halliday Wine Companion
While it rightly reveals the openness of the warm vintage with its flavour profile, this remains a stylish wine underscored by lovely acidity and some funky detail. White peach, grapefruit and preserved lemon with an oyster shell briny note and grilled nuts, so there’s a savoury element, too. Plus, a whisper of moreish sulphides and superfine lees add a level of complexity across the palate. Refreshing and delicious.
95 POINTS
Erin Larkin - Robert Parker Wine Advocate
The 2024 Chardonnay is mealy, nutty and spicy on the nose, with a framing of subtly toasty oak. In the mouth, the wine comes together, showing a textural creaminess and wide complexity, while the purity of the Margaret River acidity races across the palate at pace. It was wild fermented and matured in French barrique (30% new), with a total élevage of 15 months, including five in tank prior to bottling. This is routinely a superb wine, offering complexity and depth at a reasonable price point. The 2024 vintage was challenging, as it was hot and dry (breaking records in both categories); however, in a global context, it remained no more than moderate in its extremes. The whites, if anything, show a little firmness in their structure, given the slightly earlier picking—a decision no doubt undertaken in order to preserve fruit quality and natural acidities. But this wine feels both balanced and healthy in its fruit condition. It is warmly recommended, as usual. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.
95 POINTS
Campbell Mattinson - The Wine Front
This is a damn beautiful chardonnay. I mean, hot damn. It’s so juicy, so fruity, so lively and generous but also, simultaneously, so flinty, so refined and so complex. This is a buy/drink by the bucketload proposition. It tastes of grapefruit, lemonade, a range of citrus fruits and a mix of pears and peaches. At every step, it is 100% delicious. Plus.
93 POINTS
Nicole Bilson - Winepilot
Part of the Premier range, this fruit comes from some of the best vineyards in Margaret River. Aromatically, white nectarine and sun-kissed grapefruit add flesh to a backbone of subtle oak and a flinty, sea breeze minerality. A honeyed note of wattle blossoms draws you back in for another sniff, before revealing base notes of sultry sumac. Fermented entirely with wild yeast in French before 10 months maturation in oak (30% new) – the winemaking allows the quality of the fruit to shine. Initially plush and silky with a citrus tang , that same flinty minerality uncoils along the palate. A hint of struck match. Poise and restraint. Bright and youthful still, there’s plenty of cellaring potential.
