Tolpuddle Vineyard Chardonnay 2019

In just a few years this wonderful wine has emerged as one of Australia’s finest chardonnays. The vineyard is not far from Richmond in Tasmania, and while it’s viticultural history is quite short it has links to the earliest years of European settlement in the region, having been worked originally by one of the Tolpuddle Martyrs who fled England in the early part of the nineteenth century.

Owners Michael Hill Smith and Martin Show bought the place in 2011 with a clear intention to establish a great single vineyard. You could say: job done, but I suspect even greater things await. This is another belter.

Minerally, flinty gun smoke and char merge into the pure and pristine fruit characters on the nose. Then the palate delivers with its deep concentration and highly sustained length. It is textured and strikes a great balance of fruit and oak, having spent nine months in barrel with gentle stirring before taking a short lazy rest on lees. This is a classy exceptional chardonnay sourced from the Coal River Valley.