Tolpuddle - Chardonnay - 2023

The 2022 vintage will be very hard act follow, I tell myself, as I brace for disappointment. And then it hits like a vampire smelling its prey, pupils dilate and I am utterly captivated. Perfectly ripe lemons, peach sorbet and fresh linen billowing on the hills hoist. Whipped meringue cream, honeysuckle and bee pollen. Oak? What oak, yes it is there, with arches of cinnamon, fresh sawdust and hazelnut praline. But the fruit, oh the fruit reins supreme! It tickles the corners of your palate just where it should. Provides ample natural acidity and clean young almond milk creaminess on the finish. There is shale and river stone and the under current of not quite fathomable things, all at work to make you beg for another glass. With two wines that are so totally convincing, the magic of the Tolpuddle vineyard is real. Drink with prawn Har Gow dumplings and die happy. 98 Points Shanteh Wale, Wine Pilot