92 Points - The Wine Front
"This is a dry, structural chardonnay with everything there and waiting to unfold. If you have a bit of patience then at $30 it’s a bit of a steal; but only with that proviso. Flint, steel, citrus and nectarine flavours gradually work toward white peach, chalk and cedarwood. It’s both inherently complex and inherently reserved. Give it another 12-24 months in bottle and it will begin to shine."
- Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front 2022
Tasting Notes:
This chardonnay is a vibrant, layered rendition, built around saline acids and a core of bright fruit. It unwinds with lemon blossom, white peach and pear, and some nutty oak spice before a chalky, grippy close.
Winemaking Notes:
Hand-picked between 21st & 23rd of February
Vinification & Elevage: Fruit was whole bunch pressed directly to French oak barriques, puncheons, a foudre (10% new) and a ceramic egg for primary fermentation. 10% of the blend underwent malolactic conversion with no lees stirring. 10 months on lees in oak.
Viticultural Notes:
Established in 1995, Toolangi Vineyards is in the Yarra Valley adjoining the Toolangi State Forest. This single site vineyard on fine clay loam produces wines with distinctive personalities, each wine showing a strong sense of place. This Chardonnay is made from low cropped, hand harvested I10V3, Mendoza and Gin Gin Chardonnay clones from 20-year-old vines.
2021 was a welcome return to ideal growing conditions here in the Yarra Valley. A prolonged, classical season allowed for brilliant definition of flavour across our range.