Marchand & Burch Villages Chardonnay 2024

This operation is a Franco-Aussie partnership between Jeff Burch from Howard Park and Pascal Marchand from Burgundy. This wine, the Villages, is their nod to Chablis, while the Mount Barrow Chardonnay reflects their version of Chassagne-Montrachet. Fermentation here is in oak, mostly barriques, with 30% of them new. Malolactic fermentation commences in oak but is completed in tank. The wine will then spend eight to nine months on lees in tank. Deep lemon in colour, there are gorgeous aromatics here. Notes of cashews, mandarins, ginger, dry herbs, lemon curd and stone fruits abound. The wine has a seductive texture, good concentration, fine balance, is soft and generous, and of medium length. For enjoying over the next half dozen years.