2024 Tolpuddle Chardonnay
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Tasting notes
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, sealed under screw cap.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jancis Robinson MW
Erin Larkin, Wine Advocate
More reviews and scores
Full screwcapped bottle 1,351 g. Site facing east-north-east on silica sands over sandstone at 90 m elevation. Big clonal mix. 5,500 vines/ha. They are keen to limit yield per vine. Very pale straw. High-toned and intense nose. Hint of struck match. Winemaker Adam Wadewitz thinks a bit of this ‘offsets the simplicity of the fruit’ but denies it’s deliberate. ‘It just sort of happens.’ He assured me that the IWC-awarded 2023 has more struck-match character. Rich fruit and a strong flavour of lime boiled sweet/hard candy. (JR)