Margaret River Chardonnay 2025 ($72) – The fruit here comes from the Allingham Vineyard in Margaret River, specifically the Karridale sub-region which is located to the south. 2025 was a more typical vintage for the region after the hot and dry 2024. The fruit was whole bunch pressed and the team retained solids in order to compliment the texture and enhance the complexity. Fermentation was with native yeasts in larger format Burgundian oak.
Lemon straw with the palest flecks of lime throughout, this is still youthful, but it is immediately obvious that this is a classy Chardonnay. There are notes of spicy, nutmeggy, cashewy oak integration to the fore, which is surely proceeding as the winemakers intended. The wine is well balanced with great intensity and serious length. There is good focus and a fine line of acidity running through, alongside the supple texture. Wonderful drinking now but surely better even better in twelve months, after which drink it for the following decade. 95.