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2021 Heytesbury Chardonnay
£250.00 per 6 Bot Case, in bond (£319.22 Duty & VAT paid)
£100.00 per Mag, in bond (£126.41 Duty & VAT paid)
It’s been a joy to watch the evolution of Heytesbury over the past decade or so, as it's one of the great Australian chardonnays. Whatever vintage conditions have thrown at it, and with tweaks along the way, the nucleus remains steadfast: quality, excellent fruit and a second-to-none level of detail in the winemaking. This is an evocative wine. Pristine and sublime. Funky sulphides rockin’ it while a gossamer thread of acidity holds everything in line – the citrus flavours, the texture, the wine totally enveloping the oak and, while it’s a powerhouse of flavour, there’s a purity to this. It’s such a contrast. How does it achieve that? 2023-2033
98 points Jane Faulkener, Halliday Wine Companion
Light-mid yellow colour with a butterscotch overtone to the complex bouquet, toasted nuts, shortbread and rich sweet-fruit middle palate within a taut and disciplined framework. Tremendous line and length: the finish reverberates for a long time. A quite magnificent chardonnay. It's offering more at this tender age than the usual super-reserved Heytesbury. 2023-2036
97 points Huon Hooke, The Real Review
The 2021 Heytesbury Chardonnay is as Heytesbury usually is—complex, firmly textured, coastal and briny, with layers of flesh and spice folded in on the palate. The wine ages tremendously, and the release cycle really does it no favors, as the wine seems to come into its own several years after release. It really is a shame about commercial reality! You get salted white peach, brine, saltbush, green apple skins, tea leaves, graphite/pencil box, tobacco leaf and cilantro. It's a sensational wine, and it will be even better in time. It was fermented wild, matured for nine months in French oak barriques (56% new, the balance one to three years old) and settled for six months in tank thereafter. Super wine. Piercing. 2023-2036
96+ points Erin Larkin, Wine Advocate
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2019 Tom Cullity Cabernet Sauvignon - Malbec
£455.00 per 6 Bot Case, in bond (£565.22 Duty & VAT paid)
£180.00 per Mag, in bond (£222.41 Duty & VAT paid)
It’s often a shame to taste a flagship wine so young when it has decades ahead of it, but that feeling lasted a nanosecond before turning to respect, then 'oh my, this is awesome'. Sometimes I get very excited. In this seductive youthful stage, it’s fragrant with florals from violets to lavender, plenty of blueberries and bramble all wonderfully savoury with lots of warming spices. The palate offers charm, detail and excellent structure with velveteen tannins and a fine acid line teasing this to a long, long finish. 2024-2040
98 points Jane Faulkner, Halliday Wine Companion
Made with 78% Cabernet Sauvignon and 22% Malbec, this had a 100% wild ferment with 100% whole berry and was matured in French oak for 17 months (66% new). The 2019 season in Margaret River was cool and wet (in a good, balanced way), and it produced wines of presence, poise, detail and nuance. The only problem with 2019 as a vintage here was its proximity to the great 2018. However, the beauty of a year like 2019 is its ability to satisfy the drinkers who prefer cooler seasons. It's all mood-related for me, and on some days, a cool-season wine is preferred to a powerful one, and vice versa. No right or wrong. The low-yielding 2019 vintage is the first time the Tom Cullity wine did not include any percentage of Petit Verdot (previously, anything from 1% to 4.5% has made it into the blend). So, to the wine. On the nose, the 2019 Tom Cullity Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec is brooding and dark, with layers of blackberry, resin, chewing tobacco, nori, saltbush, togarashi spice (nori, Valencia orange peel, cayenne pepper, sesame, ginger, poppy seed, white pepper) and licorice root grace the aromatics. In the mouth, the wine follows suit. A seductively dark, satisfying and svelte wine, it's super good. This is a more polarizing style than the universally lauded 2018. 2023-2059
97 points Erin Larkin, Wine Advocate
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2021 Premier Chardonnay
£114.00 per 6 Bot Case, in bond
£156.02 Duty & VAT paid
There’s much to like about this classy chardonnay, but it is that bracing minerally and slightly saline acidity that defines what is a sort of house style. It is finely balanced with a very long palate profile packed with a mix of cashew, brioche and savoury characters. Beautiful wine. 2022-2030
94 points Ray Jordan, Wine Pilot
A tight, linear style with all manner of lemon and grapefruit flavours awash with tangy acidity. Lemon thyme pops up, a smidge of texture for good measure, and it builds with some white nectarine, a sprinkle of spice and oak judiciously integrated. This has precision and the right amount of complexity, so it’s moreish and ultimately very satisfying.
93 points Jane Faulkner, Halliday Wine Companion
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2020 Premier Cabernet Sauvignon
£135.00 per 6 Bot Case, in bond (£181.22 Duty & VAT paid)
£58.00 per Mag Case, in bond (£76.01 Duty & VAT paid)
Good depth of red-purple colour and a fresh aroma which leads with leathery oak-derived notes. The tannins create a very drying impression on the palate. There is elegance and impressive intensity here, but also some toughness—that age will almost certainly soften. There is a core of dark fruit—blackberry and mulberry—that emerges the more you work the glass. This is a sleeper, and loaded with latent potential. 2024-2038
95 points Huon Hooke, The Real Review
A stylish and elegant expression of this very good Margaret River vintage. The smaller volume and tight berry factor have contributed to the intensity and power on the palate especially. Highly perfumed nose with leafy red berry and blackcurrant with a trace of bay leaf and black olive. The palate is silky smooth and more in the medium bodied zone. So bright and vibrant with dry chalky tannins and fine oak support. A classy wine. 2023-2038
95 points Ray Jordan, Wine Pilot
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