98 & #1 Australian Wine of the Year 2025 James Suckling

Wow. This sits on the edge of reduction, expressing both power and minerality with aromas of struck match, lemon confit, crushed stones, sweet spices, grapefruit and apple blossoms. The palate is highly strung with striking acidity, balanced by a generous, rounded yet restrained mouthfeel. You could easily be in one of the great Climats of Burgundy. Truly excellent from one of Australia’s most celebrated producers.

98pts Australian Wine Companion

Ooh-boy the Tolpuddle Chardonnay is in a good place. I guess you could call this vintage a 'classic'. A little more restraint and line than the '23; a little more filigree and nuance, those flinty/struck-match tones a little further back in the mix and woven through the wine in an intricate pattern. White peach, lemon, grapefruit and nectarine fruits are high fidelity and beautifully poised, suffused with soft spice, clover and grapefruit blossom, crushed stone, cinnamon, a murmur of vanillin oak and spiced poached pear, grilled hazelnuts, crème fraîche and a whisper of onshore breeze. Everything is in sharp relief, with the purest of fruit. It's all detail and tension, with a textural glaze of grapefruit pith and a sapid, mineral line that builds like a crescendo before releasing, finishing long and true. It's a stunner.

97pts Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

I recently tasted the 2024 Chardonnay at a restaurant, and the wine looked every bit the Tolpuddle we know and love: reductive, powerful, spicy, leafy and ultra long through the finish. This was a warm season, with low yields, and the result is one of volume, opulence and statement. This has purity of fruit and structure, and the line of the extract is focused and long, driving across the palate. This is a sensational wine, and it's a clear statement of the vineyard here. The talc-like phenolics really are something. It's an excellent wine and viticulture too. 13% alcohol.

Winemaker Notes

This wine is true to the Tolpuddle Vineyard Chardonnay style: fine and precise with firm acidity, and a combination of lightness of texture and intensity of flavour. The 2019 vintage has the natural acidity you would expect but is approachable, with flavour in the lemon citrus, lemon soda, lemon pith, spectrum. This refined cool climate Chardonnay suits many different plates, but we find it to be a perfect match with pan-fried sea scallops.