Deep Woods Estate Reserve Chardonnay 2023

Let’s cut to the chase. The finest Deep Woods Chardonnay yet. It has it all. Great fruit has been harnessed with whole bunch pressing and fermentation in new and seasoned French oak. Further lees stirring has built in texture, contributing to a thoroughly beautiful, refined mouth feel. Opens with a stone fruit and savoury light lemon curd aromas. Peels off into a palate that reveals more of a struck match and cracked seashell minerality complementing the outstanding fruit concentration. Super wine.

Lime, pink grapefruit, quite a lot of cashew, cinnamon pastry, some cut fennel, a wisp of flinty and smoky things. It has intensity and ripe grapefruity acid cut, something more saline and umami here too, bright and chalky in texture, with lime rind and grip on a finish of excellent length. It has zing and energy, though it really needs a few years in bottle to cool its boots and settle into its groove.

Here, 'Single Vineyard' is trumped by the 'Reserve' range and the extra $30 buys a bit more oak and a bit more other stuff too. It’s a very busy Chardonnay so save it for when you have time to savour it.

Smoky notes mix with green tea, crushed rocks and spiced nectarines. There's a lovely flow to the palate with flavours of lemon curd, brioche and subtle herbal threads emerging. Acidity brings freshness while the fruit shows lovely clarity and detail. It's a worked style yet the fruit is never smothered and remains the star of the show. It's drinking very nicely now.