International Wine Challenge - May 2024
Fresh and bright with lots of lemony characters and a real zip if acidity. 93 Points.
Shanteh Wale, The Wine Pilot - April 2024
A cascade of yellow grapefruit juice, juiced green apples and lime sorbet. Elderflower and Acacia blossoms. A hint of green coconut and lemongrass. It's full of citrus zest with an almond milk creaminess and roast raw macadamia on the finish. Nutmeg, tahini and baked anzac biscuits. A harmony of high tones and deep base notes that presents a birds eye view of Hills chardonnay. There is real power and weight here but with plenty of fruit tension and enough malo buffering. A joy to drink now and will cellar 5-8 years. I can see this served beside a river of raclette on hot bread. 96 Points.
Mike Bennie, Halliday Wine Companion - April 2024
From a Lenswood site at 500m elevation, produced from three chardonnay grape clones. A beautiful, poised and energetic white wine that marries minerality, fine-boned fruit character, the sweet spice of oak seasoning, freshness and textural nuance with aplomb. An ultra-appealing perfume of stone fruits, cinnamon, sea spray, nougat, ginger biscuits and halva meets a flavour profile of similar descriptors lifted on a gentle wash of green apple and fino sherry saline/savoury notes that follow through with more flinty minerality. It sits even, succulent and deeply flavoured, yet fresh through its ultra-persistent course across the palate. Seductive, superb wine. 96 Points.
Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front - March 2024
This wine is a study in elegance. It has fruit, it’s not underdone, but the mouthwatering lilt of flavour running from start to finish is something to behold. It tastes off citrus, bran, stone fruits, crushed fennel, brine and ginger, a sweet-bready-woody character lingering throughout. But the carry of it, the long juicy length, the gradual reveal of florals; it’s beautifully done. 95+ Points.
Ned Goodwin MW, Jamesuckling.com - March 2024
An exceptional vintage for white wines. A lower pH, inherent freshness and phenolic bite, the artillery that delivers the impressive structural latticework necessary for further development. Really classy. Subdued aromas of cinnamon, sesame, quince, ginger and toasted hazelnut, with the barest hint of fruit. Better this way. The mid-weighted palate is pliant, nicely chewy and multilayered. The finish is exceptionally long, although I look forward to tasting again in another six or eight years after things unravel and meld. Stunning chardonnay, aligned with top-tier Chassagne and certainly among the finest tasted in recent memory. 97 Points.
Huon Hooke, The Real Review - March 2024
Very light yellow hue; smoky reductive and waxy, wheaty notes rise from the glass, the wine reserved and tautly composed, with a refined and subtle palate that promises to reveal more given time. There are herb, citrus and pear flavours within, oak making its presence known, and the finish is tensioned and long. It demands time and shows a lot of promise. 93 Points.
International Wine Challenge - May 2024
Fresh and bright with lots of lemony characters and a real zip if acidity. 93 Points.
Shanteh Wale, The Wine Pilot - April 2024
A cascade of yellow grapefruit juice, juiced green apples and lime sorbet. Elderflower and Acacia blossoms. A hint of green coconut and lemongrass. It's full of citrus zest with an almond milk creaminess and roast raw macadamia on the finish. Nutmeg, tahini and baked anzac biscuits. A harmony of high tones and deep base notes that presents a birds eye view of Hills chardonnay. There is real power and weight here but with plenty of fruit tension and enough malo buffering. A joy to drink now and will cellar 5-8 years. I can see this served beside a river of raclette on hot bread. 96 Points.
Mike Bennie, Halliday Wine Companion - April 2024
From a Lenswood site at 500m elevation, produced from three chardonnay grape clones. A beautiful, poised and energetic white wine that marries minerality, fine-boned fruit character, the sweet spice of oak seasoning, freshness and textural nuance with aplomb. An ultra-appealing perfume of stone fruits, cinnamon, sea spray, nougat, ginger biscuits and halva meets a flavour profile of similar descriptors lifted on a gentle wash of green apple and fino sherry saline/savoury notes that follow through with more flinty minerality. It sits even, succulent and deeply flavoured, yet fresh through its ultra-persistent course across the palate. Seductive, superb wine. 96 Points.
Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front - March 2024
This wine is a study in elegance. It has fruit, it’s not underdone, but the mouthwatering lilt of flavour running from start to finish is something to behold. It tastes off citrus, bran, stone fruits, crushed fennel, brine and ginger, a sweet-bready-woody character lingering throughout. But the carry of it, the long juicy length, the gradual reveal of florals; it’s beautifully done. 95+ Points.
Ned Goodwin MW, Jamesuckling.com - March 2024
An exceptional vintage for white wines. A lower pH, inherent freshness and phenolic bite, the artillery that delivers the impressive structural latticework necessary for further development. Really classy. Subdued aromas of cinnamon, sesame, quince, ginger and toasted hazelnut, with the barest hint of fruit. Better this way. The mid-weighted palate is pliant, nicely chewy and multilayered. The finish is exceptionally long, although I look forward to tasting again in another six or eight years after things unravel and meld. Stunning chardonnay, aligned with top-tier Chassagne and certainly among the finest tasted in recent memory. 97 Points.
Huon Hooke, The Real Review - March 2024
Very light yellow hue; smoky reductive and waxy, wheaty notes rise from the glass, the wine reserved and tautly composed, with a refined and subtle palate that promises to reveal more given time. There are herb, citrus and pear flavours within, oak making its presence known, and the finish is tensioned and long. It demands time and shows a lot of promise. 93 Points.
