Xanadu Chardonnay 2024

It still strikes me as remarkable that a wine of this quality from Xanadu can be so inexpensive. I mean, this is a super classy wine that is a combination of largely Walcliff fruit with about 11% from Willibera, adding that deep concentration into the palate. The fruit was all whole bunch pressed and barrel-fermented in French oak, of which about a quarter was new. The nose shows the citrusy, nectarine, and slightly kumquat-like characters, with a little spicy lift. It’s more in the medium-bodied zone, with a mix of citrus and grapefruit, with a crunchy, pebbly minerality contributing to its fine linear expression and its supreme focus. Despite the warmth of the year, this turned out to be pretty good for Chardonnay, and this is another excellent example.