2022 Kevin John Chardonnay
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Tasting notes
The 2022 vintage was warm and low yielding—very low yielding in the context of Chardonnay. The fruit for this vintage was picked over eight different parcels, from the third to the 21st of February. The fruit was handled in a combination of 50% new French oak, amphora and concrete egg. The 2022 Kevin John Chardonnay leads with chamomile tea, saffron, yellow peach, smoked almonds, jasmine, sandalwood and white-flesh stone fruit. It's a subdued, quiet wine at this stage, quite different from how I remember tasting it on release. As a three-year-old wine (i.e., three years from harvest), this falls before my recommended drinking window for Margaret River Chardonnay, which I believe shows best five years from harvest, as a general rule of thumb. Leave this for a while before drinking it; I believe it will open and evolve positively. 13.9% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.
Critic scores
Average Score
Richard Hemming MW, jancisrobinson.com
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
Succulent fruit with gorgeous oak spice on the palate. Sophisticated, oatmeal nose with lots of texture and juiciness. Long, expressive finish. There's lots of dairy complexity, but without slicks of butter. Excellent clarity of fruit on the mid palate – grapefruit, pineapple, melon. (RH)
Glorious aromas of buckwheat, like cold soba noodles, melding with quince, roasted nuts, tangerine and apricot pith. Always an incredibly intense mid-weighted expression, this iteration is gentler and more refined in a sense, due to immaculate poise and drinkability quotient. I often find this wine a bit too much. Not this vintage. Maritime freshness and a waft of unresolved CO2 carry length. Compact and filigreed. Almost breezy, intuitive of feel and effortless, in the very best sense of the word. Drink or hold. Screw cap.