Vignerons Schmölzer & Brown Thorley Chardonnay 2023
- 94
- $66
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This blossoms beautifully in the glass. It’s tight and fine, but firm in its unfurling. Flint, fine cedar, salted pastry dough, and hard cheese rind intermingle with lemon pith and almond to set the scene. With air, more fruit presence appears in crushed green apple and lime zest, along with tonic and homemade lemonade. River stone minerality also comes through, adding interest. The palate has lovely lees-derived creaminess to fill out what would otherwise be a taut and tensile frame. Pastry dough, pear, lemon and lime zest, tonic, almond meal, and green apple skin glide through the mouth before a cut of bright lemon acidity pulls it long through the finish. This may not have the concentration of other Thorley releases due to the 2023 vintage, but the team at VS&B have still managed to craft a Chardonnay of trademark energy, tension, texture, and complexity.
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.
