Shaw & Smith Lenswood Vineyard Chardonnay 2024
- 96
- $100
Share
The Lenswood vineyard was planted in 1999 and sits at 455–500m elevation. This was hand-picked and hand-sorted, gently whole-bunch pressed, then fermented in 500-litre puncheons, 30% new. Full malo and 10 months in oak. This is intense and immediate in its perfume with red apple flesh, fine cedar, flint and lees-derived pastry dough leading to grilled almond and white peach. There’s some cinnamon apple and peach skin with air. The palate is at once precise and expansive — white peach and powdery red apple flesh followed by cinnamon roll, finger lime and a shot of salinity before crackling acidity and powdery phenolics ripple and shimmer through a long, poised and incredibly fresh finish. A classy wine, imbued with freshness, complexity and definition.
Tom Kline is a wine writer, reviewer, presenter, and educator based in Victoria, Australia. He is the Australian correspondent for the internationally respected publications Jasper Morris Inside Burgundy and Jane Anson Inside Bordeaux, where he highlights the top tier of Australian wine for a global audience. Tom also writes for leading outlets including Decanter (UK), Wine Spectator (US), and Halliday Magazine, among others. An experienced wine show judge and WSET educator, he has authored several consumer-focused wine courses aimed at making wine more accessible and engaging. In 2023, Tom was awarded Best Published Feature Article or Wine Column at the prestigious Wine Communicator Awards, presented by Wine Communicators of Australia.
