Faultline Chardonnay 2019

Even from such a fine Chardonnay-producing region as Mornington Peninsula, these latest offerings from Kooyong are standouts. The Faultline Vineyard was planted over two decades ago and the grapes for this wine were sourced from a special 0.57 hectare block within it. The soil has more clay and less ironstone than the Farrago Vineyard. Again, these grapes were whole-bunch pressed directly into French oak barriques (16% new), whereupon fermentation took place with native yeasts. The wine then spent 11 months on lees with no bâtonnage. And again, there was no fining and minimal filtration.

With this chardonnay, Kooyong move into more stonefruit territory  with underlying wet slate. It is less expressive but offers more concentration. This is a chardonnay which will undoubtedly benefit from more time in the cellar. The longer it spent in the glass, the more characters and flavours emerged. It offers lemon spongecake rather than lemon zest. This is a fine chardonnay with excellent balance and good acidity. An appealing creamy texture runs the length of the wine. And there is good length – perhaps fractionally short of the Farrago, but it is not a competition. This wine has punch and power. 93.