2023 Woodlawn Waverley Vineyard Chardonnay

95 POINTS

Erin Larkin - Robert Parker Wine Advocate

The 2023 Waverley Vineyard Chardonnay is tighter and more linear than the comparatively fleshy 2024 tasted alongside. Here, the wine is rich and mouth-filling, complex, long and salty. I like the persistence here; it lingers well beyond the close of play and makes for great drinking. This is a super wine. 13% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

95 POINTS

Dave Brookes - Halliday Wine Companion

Made by Ricky Evans, the Waverley vineyard is located just to the east of Launceston and is one of the coolest of the Woodlawn vineyard sites. Pale straw with a tight aromatic profile of lemon, grapefruit and nectarine with hints of spiced oatmeal, vanillin cream, crushed riverstone, almond paste and nougat. Tight and high-tensile with a stony, savoury palate presence, lemony fruit and a finish like sucking on a river pebble. I love it.

94 POINTS

Mike Bennie - The Wine Front

The Woodlawn label is the home estate of winemaker Ricky Evans and family. It’s on the eastern side of the Tamar River, planted 2017. This, and a suite of local vineyards are now farmed by Ricky and family. The Two Tonne Tasmania label stands alone, and Woodlawn is for special release wines, per se. And single sites in this collection (aside the fizz). This is Three Wishes Vineyard, as the name says. The vineyard was planted in 2005 and has been revitalised by Ricky since 2015. A cooler site east of Launceston. A gentle chardonnay with soft, peachy fruit characters, a dose of pulpy grapefruit freshness, some vanilla cream and vanilla wafer characters with dashes of halva and faint lemonade notes. It’s a wine of subtle nature, long flavour, genial, cinnamon and clove spice with a seamlessness and supple nature, including the plush landing at the finish. Plenty of charm here. Modest overall.

93 POINTS

Tom Kline - Winepilot

The best is yet to come for this wine, but its bones are classy – bright, energetic, and finely etched. Aromatically, it opens with attractively bitter tones of preserved lemon and green almond, underpinned by subtle, fine cedar. With time in the glass, fruit notes emerge: white nectarine, nashi pear, and Meyer lemon. It’s furled and tensile, needing a little coaxing, with lees-derived dough notes gradually filling out the profile. The palate mirrors that high-toned, taut feel – white grapefruit, tight lemon, and saline minerality sit at the fore, supported by a substratum of fine cedar and gentle nougat. Leesy dough notes carry through in the mouth perfume. A well-shaped frame of chalky phenolics and firm, lemon-drenched acidity brings structure and drive, finishing fresh, composed, and even.