Winemaker Notes
This wine shows white floral and lemon barley notes on the nose. Classic Tolpuddle backbone of acidity, yellow grapefruit, lemon pith, and some flinty minerality. A combination of lightness, delicacy, texture, and extract. A touch of lees derived shortbread flavor adds complexity. This wine has a great future.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This really asserts itself at the top echelon of chardonnay, in a context that extends far beyond the shores of the tiny island state of Tasmania. Already in such a great place, with aromas of white peach, lemon, lemon curd and very precisely curated sulphides adding interest. There’s wet chalk, lemon peel and gentle hazelnutty oak in play as well. The palate has seamless, layered and fresh citrus and peach flavors, as well as a stream of pithy grapefruit and peach on offer. Acidity holds the finish long and true. This is one of the most elegant vintages of this wine, reminiscent of the 2014. Oak chimes in so subtly on the finish. Drink or hold.
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Australian Wine Companion
Tolpuddle is cementing its place in the great regional chardonnays of Australia, with its piercing purity and intensity reflecting its great Richmond vineyard. Its impact on the aftertaste has no equal, leaving you rooted to the spot. Tolpuddle doesn’t waste great vintage opportunities.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2020 Chardonnay hails from a low-yielding season, and while the wine is a little reductive on the nose, the aromas give way to a toasty, spicy (fresh-picked curry leaf, an artifact of the reduction) mid-palate with a long, phenolic-driven close. This is a wine of power and structure, threaded together by saline acidity. It's a sensational wine, looking nutty and spicy today. The wine goes through malolactic fermentation in full, although that is seasonally dependent. 13% alcohol. Rating: 96+
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Wine Enthusiast
From Tasmania’s southeastern Coal River Valley, Tolpuddle has cemented its reputation as one of Australia’s most revered single vineyards. The winery’s Chardonnay style is a rich, Burgundian expression, leaning fairly heavily into reductive, struck match, flint and roasted nut territory. But it never goes too far. The delicate white peach and preserved lemon notes are what tip it back into balance. The palate is mouthfilling but lifted by pristine acidity. A lick of hazelnut oak supports without dominating, and a toasty, saline finish lingers long in the mouth. A classy and distinctive Chard with a long life ahead.
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Wine Spectator
Wonderfully vibrant and sleek, with mouthwatering intensity to the Meyer lemon, lime sherbet and toasted sesame seed notes, with accents of orange blossom and fresh lemon verbena that linger on the long, expressive and refreshing finish. Drink now.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
Directly south of the city of Melbourne and the Mornington Peninsula wine region, the cool-climate island of Tasmania has earned an honorable reputation as the country’s finest producer of Sparkling Wine. Naturally the region also excels in top quality still wines from Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Riesling, all distinguished because of a high natural acidity. Most of the Tasmania vineyards cluster around the eastern side of the island from north to south.