Devil’s Lair Margaret River Chardonnay 2020

The next step up the Devil’s ladder. The fruit for this wine comes from some of the more southerly vineyards in the region, a little cooler than most. The wine matures for nine months in a mix of French oak barriques (40% new and the rest a mix of one and two-year-old oak). Gentle lees stirring adds to the complexity. The colour is a vibrant lemon/gold. This has class, intensity and refinement with notes of spices, well integrated oak, lemon, melon, river stones, ginger and stone fruit. Good acidity runs the length, the balance is immaculate and it has great persistence. Good now, certainly, but this will scale further heights over the next three to eight years.