Vasse Felix, Heytesbury Chardonnay, Margaret River 2023

Fleshy, ripe stone fruit with nice flinty line. Creamy lemon shortbread with pillowy plumpness. An illusion of an easy-drinking, salted butter Chardonnay. Beneath that breezy exterior this has layer upon layer of complexity, and the oak is seamlessly integrated. Delightful sweetness of fruit at the core, grilled white peach with umami edges of toast and vanilla creaminess. Classic, comforting Chardonnay. Long waves of flavour with volume and delicacy, and a wild oceanic undercurrent. Gingin clone, wild yeast, 16 months' ageing – nine in oak, seven blended in tank.

The 2023 Heytesbury Chardonnay reveals all the poise and balance we expect from the season. It is awesome. This feels totally weighted on the back palate. The fruit intensity, coupled with powerful acidity and phenolic presence, fully penetrates beyond mere "flavor experience" and dives deep into the senses; the only option left is to ride that wave until it slowly fades. It's a persistent, sophisticated wine of latent power and patience. While this is released two years from harvest, it doesn't start to show its complex potential until around five years from harvest and far beyond that. It's slow to emerge and slow to age. This is a 100% Gingin clone Chardonnay, matured in French oak barriques, 52% new, for nine months, with seven months blended in tank prior to bottling. 13% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

The 2023 Heytesbury Chardonnay reveals all the poise and balance we expect from the season. It is awesome. This feels totally weighted on the back palate. The fruit intensity, coupled with powerful acidity and phenolic presence, fully penetrates beyond mere "flavor experience" and dives deep into the senses; the only option left is to ride that wave until it slowly fades. It's a persistent, sophisticated wine of latent power and patience. While this is released two years from harvest, it doesn't start to show its complex potential until around five years from harvest and far beyond that. It's slow to emerge and slow to age. This is a 100% Gingin clone Chardonnay, matured in French oak barriques, 52% new, for nine months, with seven months blended in tank prior to bottling. 13% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

The 2023 Heytesbury Chardonnay hails from a pristine vintage in Margaret River. The season was on the cooler side of things but remained very dry and devoid of heat surges. Good weather at flowering meant yields were healthy, and from what I have seen so far, the season seems to have teased the very best from producers right across Western Australia, from all varieties. It truly was "one of those years."

An intensely complex and inviting nose with aromas of lemon curd, grapefruit rind, orange blossoms and gunsmoke. The medium-bodied palate has a textural mouthfeel and vivid acidity, showing notes of lime zest, mandarin pith, fresh pineapple and cookies. Multidimensional and giving with an underlying tension. Exceptional. Drink or hold. Screw cap.

The 2023 Chardonnay Heytesbury is powerful yet refined delivering robust layers of preserved lemon and crushed nuts with hints of seabreeze and vanilla-bean oak. The 2023 is particularly approachable, with vibrant pear and ginger flavours to start before nougat and gunflint tones build on the finish. Tangy acidity builds through the close. This is an atypical vintage to enjoy over the medium term.