Vasse Felix

It stings the nostrils, slaps you into gear, and brings joy to the souls of Chardonnay lovers. What an incredible wine, from what was not your average vintage in Wadandi Country. Spiced lime sorbet, mandarin peel and a tangerine dream. In the mouth, the acid is pithy, driving through the centre with power and incisive focus. Everything is dialled up, yet detailed, with nothing outshining the other. The fruit is uber dense, showing fresh, preserved, salted and peak-season notes of grapefruit, candied mandarin and scraped vanilla bean, with a touch of curry leaf. From the earliest harvest on record, it may not live as long as other vintages, but it feels the most complete on release. Plenty of stuffing, palate-saturating tension, grip and drive, with salty acid layering the experience. Drink without food to start, make sure to have your most gossipy friend with you, then order another bottle and get incredibly indiscreet about things you probably shouldn’t.

2022 was on the warm side and this bottling of one of Margaret River's top Chards offers less of the reductive struck match and roasted-nut aromas of past vintages. It instead displays pithy citrus and melon rind, oats and salty seashell aromas, with a slight metallic edge. Round and textured, but with lovely acidity throughout, the concentrated fruit, oak and malolactic influences are all in perfect harmony. This may not be the longest-lived Heytesbury, but it's a damn fine drop now.