Vasse Felix Chardonnay 2024
- 93
- $46
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There’s a rich, open-knit feel here — nut brittle, ripe peach, toasted nuts, vanilla pod and ripe kumquat bring a heady opening before a shot of pithy white grapefruit slices through the centre, adding freshness. There’s some nectarine with air and an undercurrent of flint adding dimension too. This really needs some air to come together aromatically, as the fruit presence after some time in glass brings a sense of balance to the wine’s savoury richness. The palate is textural, opulent and mouth-coating, with almond cream and vanilla making way for green apple, white grapefruit and green mango skin at the core. The oak sits beneath as a substratum — present but not overbearingly so. The phenolics are important here — tight, chalky and bracing, acting as a foil to the wine’s richness. Overall there’s a push and pull of richness and tension throughout. Lovers of flavoursome, generous and bold Chardonnay will like this.
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.
