Marchand and Burch Mount Barrow Chardonnay 2023

A new wine in the portfolio, and it’s a thrill to see the power and potential of the Mount Barrow site on display. Whole bunch fruit is pressed into 40% new French oak for ten months and undergoes partial malolactic. There’s an abundance of top-notch oak on the nose, brimming with frankincense, oriental florals, lightly toasted vanilla bean and cedar spice.  Glossy fruit unfurls from its velvet lined comforter, with preserved lemon, pith, crushed pip and a flinty minerality followed by almond meal tones. Mouth-filling volume awaits, with the pillowy softness of fruit but a core of tightly knit tension and bright, pin-pricked acidity. Lees work offers a fine and mealy texture, with delicate notes of curd and savoury cheesecloth. There’s some serious structure to this wine, yet the concentration of fruit fills the cheekbones with plumpness and approachability. The length of fruit and phenolics is impressive, and keeps on giving well after the wine has been sipped and swallowed (or spat). An exciting new benchmark for the Mount Barrow vineyard and a new premium Chardonnay on the Great Southern compass, with the potential for iconic status in years ahead. A well-thought-out wine; the epitome of elegance and discrete power.