2024 Bannockburn Winery Block Chardonnay

95 POINTS

Philip Rich - Halliday Wine Companion

Whole-bunch pressed and fermented and matured in French hogsheads and puncheons (40% new); 100% mlf. A very bright green gold. With it aromas of white nectarine, sea spray, gently grilled cashew and just a hint of fresh vanillin, this is engaging from the moment you stick your nose in the glass. Like the '23, this is simultaneously mouth-filling, textured and with enough backbone to ensure that this will continue to evolve over the next six to eight years at least.

95 POINTS

Erin Larkin - Robert Parker Wine Advocate

The 2024 Winery Block Chardonnay is exotically spiced and savory both on the nose and in the mouth, with lashings of flavor, acidity and texture all piled on. There's sandalwood, clove, cinnamon, nutmeg, yellow peach, biscuit, sourdough, green/raw almonds, dried rosemary/herbs and so much more. It's really an intriguing wine. The vineyard is planted to the P58 clone (1981), and this shines through clearly on the palate in its nutty, creamy way. This is very good indeed. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

95 POINTS

Campbell Mattinson - The Wine Front

The Winery Block has been the bedrock of Bannockburn Chardonnay over the years. It was planted in 1981, and is the largest planting of chardonnay on the estate. This is stellar. It’s a wine of both power and length and with a bit of extra character as well. Apples, peaches, slips of pear skin and nuts, perhaps some stonefruit pips as well, or certainly something that seems both fruity and woody at once. It’s not reticent or restrained but nor is it exaggerated; it’s alive with flavour, fit and firing you could say, ripped with muscle and energy. Touch and go for 96. In any case it’s superb.