I do have a soft spot for this Chardonnay. It’s not in the same league as the Tiers 1.5m 2024, but it’s a very good one, no less.
I love the notes Brian Croser shares about each vintage. He introduces 2025, “as a weak, wobbly Antarctic vortex allowed a pressure system to escape near the Australian continent. The result was the warmest, driest and earliest vintage of my 56-year winemaking career.
A delightful melange of barbecued peaches and white-fleshed nectarines greets you with lemon zest and juice and a seductive grapefruit acidity that brings the mouth to water. Vanilla cream, Panna Cotta, barley sugar, cashews and almond meal fold into one another with ease, building a silky and graceful presence. The lights are flashing for some more bottle age as a tense acidity swoops in on close and points to a long life ahead. I’d run at the opportunity to take another look in a couple of years.