Vincenzo Arnese, Pedro Ballestros MW, Amanda Barnes - Decanter, Wines of the Year 2022: Top Scoring Bottles and Top Whites - December 2022
Restrained, elegant and complex, with no hint of tropical fruit but relevant citrus and white fruit notes in this cool-climate Chardonnay. Oak integration is stunning and the wine shows personality, vibrancy, mouth-watering acidity and a precise, long finish. Nominated by Justin Knock MW. 96 Points.
2022 Melbourne Royal Wine Awards - October 2022
Gold Medal, 95 Points.
Nathan Slone - Jamessuckling.com - October 2022
This is such a beautifully crafted Adelaide Hills chardonnay! Complex, flinty nose with notes of toasted baguette, lime zest, Asian pear and fresh pineapple. I love the underplayed power on the very focused, medium-bodied palate. Fine tannins underline the long and intense wet-stone finish. 95 Points.
Andrew Caillard MW - The Vinatge Journal - September 2022
Pale colour. Flinty grapefruit, lemon curd aromas aromas with cashew nut, roasted almond notes. Classically styled with pure grapefruit, bitter lemon flavours, fine loose knit/lacy textures, very attractive mid-palate creaminess and underlying grilled nut/ hint vanilla complexity. Bitter sweetness and fresh persistent crispness lengthen the palate. A cracker at its price point with superb mineral freshness. Drink now – medium term. 98 Points.
Jeni Port - James Halliday Wine Companion - September 2022
The ’21 M3 release sees a price rise, which the makers clearly consider fitting for a wine celebrated as one of the best chardonnays in the country. It’s also an outstanding vintage. Quietly, it wields its magic. Its youthful exuberance is tightly wound, with whispers of green apple, grapefruit, lemon peel and almond, firming and rising through the wine. Acidity drives and energises the pristine fruit with oak a gentle accompaniment. Fine and elegant now. An outstanding future is writ large. 97 Points.
James Halliday - The Weekend Australian - June 2022
Hand-picked, whole bunch-pressed, fermented and matured in French oak. Its crystal clear quartz-green hue signals the ’21 vintage in all its glory, the bouquet and palate a seamless array of nectarine, grapefruit and cashew. The feel and flow of the aftertaste implore a second glass. 97 points.
Tony Love - InDaily - May 2022
Sourced from three vineyards in Piccadilly, Lobethal, and S+S’s estate blocks in Lenswood, this is a clear and precise example of Hills Chardonnay from start to finish. White stone fruits, a subtle backdrop of French oak spice, and a creamy cashew-like yeast bun vibe are the top notes with a fresh and bright under layer of fruit acidity at its finest balance setting. All these elements entwine judiciously mid- palate in a complete harmonic expression of variety and region.
Andrew Graham - Australian Wine Review - May 2022
Released too early, which is the only blight. Otherwise, this is another super vintage for one of the country’s most consistently concise and high quality Chardonnay wines. Sliced white peach, a lemon cordial acidity thing, then acidity that is mouthwatering. Clay powder oak, lemon citrus. Power. Very firm. Very classic. It feels graceful if pre- pubescent, and that’s the only thing sliding it from top gold to just gold. Come back next year for the full kit and kaboodle of flavours as this is an A1 vintage. It just needs patience. 94 Points.
Huon Hooke - The Real Review - April 2022
This lovely chardonnay has a toasty nut bouquet, with some smoky oak and fine fruit aromas, the palate delicate and restrained but intense at the same time, penetrating and long. A very taut, concentrated but refined wine with tension and persistence. It’s great now and has room to grow. 95 points
Campbell Mattinson - The Wine Front - April 2022
Its impeccable self. Flavours of pear and quartz, nectarine and cedar, a gentle floral element, a subtle lactose note. It feels powerful, taut and refined at once. This is not a smack-you-in-the-eyes chardonnay and yet its quality and intensity are clear. As with many of the finest Australian chardonnays now, this will need a year or three from release to start showing its best self. 95 points
Vincenzo Arnese, Pedro Ballestros MW, Amanda Barnes - Decanter, Wines of the Year 2022: Top Scoring Bottles and Top Whites - December 2022
Restrained, elegant and complex, with no hint of tropical fruit but relevant citrus and white fruit notes in this cool-climate Chardonnay. Oak integration is stunning and the wine shows personality, vibrancy, mouth-watering acidity and a precise, long finish. Nominated by Justin Knock MW. 96 Points.
2022 Melbourne Royal Wine Awards - October 2022
Gold Medal, 95 Points.
Nathan Slone - Jamessuckling.com - October 2022
This is such a beautifully crafted Adelaide Hills chardonnay! Complex, flinty nose with notes of toasted baguette, lime zest, Asian pear and fresh pineapple. I love the underplayed power on the very focused, medium-bodied palate. Fine tannins underline the long and intense wet-stone finish. 95 Points.
Andrew Caillard MW - The Vinatge Journal - September 2022
Pale colour. Flinty grapefruit, lemon curd aromas aromas with cashew nut, roasted almond notes. Classically styled with pure grapefruit, bitter lemon flavours, fine loose knit/lacy textures, very attractive mid-palate creaminess and underlying grilled nut/ hint vanilla complexity. Bitter sweetness and fresh persistent crispness lengthen the palate. A cracker at its price point with superb mineral freshness. Drink now – medium term. 98 Points.
Jeni Port - James Halliday Wine Companion - September 2022
The ’21 M3 release sees a price rise, which the makers clearly consider fitting for a wine celebrated as one of the best chardonnays in the country. It’s also an outstanding vintage. Quietly, it wields its magic. Its youthful exuberance is tightly wound, with whispers of green apple, grapefruit, lemon peel and almond, firming and rising through the wine. Acidity drives and energises the pristine fruit with oak a gentle accompaniment. Fine and elegant now. An outstanding future is writ large. 97 Points.
James Halliday - The Weekend Australian - June 2022
Hand-picked, whole bunch-pressed, fermented and matured in French oak. Its crystal clear quartz-green hue signals the ’21 vintage in all its glory, the bouquet and palate a seamless array of nectarine, grapefruit and cashew. The feel and flow of the aftertaste implore a second glass. 97 points.
Tony Love - InDaily - May 2022
Sourced from three vineyards in Piccadilly, Lobethal, and S+S’s estate blocks in Lenswood, this is a clear and precise example of Hills Chardonnay from start to finish. White stone fruits, a subtle backdrop of French oak spice, and a creamy cashew-like yeast bun vibe are the top notes with a fresh and bright under layer of fruit acidity at its finest balance setting. All these elements entwine judiciously mid- palate in a complete harmonic expression of variety and region.
Andrew Graham - Australian Wine Review - May 2022
Released too early, which is the only blight. Otherwise, this is another super vintage for one of the country’s most consistently concise and high quality Chardonnay wines. Sliced white peach, a lemon cordial acidity thing, then acidity that is mouthwatering. Clay powder oak, lemon citrus. Power. Very firm. Very classic. It feels graceful if pre- pubescent, and that’s the only thing sliding it from top gold to just gold. Come back next year for the full kit and kaboodle of flavours as this is an A1 vintage. It just needs patience. 94 Points.
Huon Hooke - The Real Review - April 2022
This lovely chardonnay has a toasty nut bouquet, with some smoky oak and fine fruit aromas, the palate delicate and restrained but intense at the same time, penetrating and long. A very taut, concentrated but refined wine with tension and persistence. It’s great now and has room to grow. 95 points
Campbell Mattinson - The Wine Front - April 2022
Its impeccable self. Flavours of pear and quartz, nectarine and cedar, a gentle floral element, a subtle lactose note. It feels powerful, taut and refined at once. This is not a smack-you-in-the-eyes chardonnay and yet its quality and intensity are clear. As with many of the finest Australian chardonnays now, this will need a year or three from release to start showing its best self. 95 points
