Chardonnay KC1, Whitewolfe 2022

The scent of rain on moss and rocks, a storm in the air. Maybe being 10 miles from the sea gives this wine its saline flinch and tight, white, marble clench. Perhaps it is the soil. Or the yeast. Who knows, but the one thing that is for certain is that this wine arrives with unnervingly rapier focus that feels as if it might slice you in two to the back of your spine. And then, as if it hits a prism, it refracts in the mouth and the acidity scatters like light, finding every tiny space, filling the mouth with a nacreous glow of white-yellow-green-gold fruit. There is absolutely no hurry to drink this fine-boned Chardonnay – you could tuck it away for at least five years and quite possibly five more (the ++ in the score means that I think this wine will only get better with age). If you do open it now, decant if you can, use large glasses, serve at grand cru burgundy temperature. Drink 2026-2033.

Kit's Coty lies in the heart of Kent's North Downs, and Whitewolfe is a south-facing plot that is guarded from the heaviest of rains and the bitter northeasterly winds (giving higher average temperatures) thanks to protection from the North Downs. The vines were only planted in 2020, but this is as exciting a project we have tasted for still wine in England. The harvest is done by clone, with each bottling representing a barrel selection of different clones from the site. KC1 is largely clones 76 and 95, together with some 121. 11 months in barrel. 13% abv with no chaptalisation. A pale lemon colour in the glass, the KC1 shows notes of wild mint, white peach and citrus curd on the nose together with a hint of grapefruit. The palate glistens with energy, lively acids cutting through saline citrus, delicate white flowers and savoury spice. There is an underlying flinty - yet not overtly reductive - character to this wine. It is stony, tensile, moreish. Brimming with potential and lipsmacking on the finish, this is a mouthwatering but complete Chardonnay, telling of its origins but crowd-pleasing in its fruit and texture. Excellent.

This wine has a perfume and flavour that set my palate alight. I have never tasted a Chardonnay quite like this, as it is so loaded with crushed seashells and nerve-tingling freshness it rearranges your central nervous system while romancing your taste buds in a spellbinding fashion. Firm, statuesque, and with stellar length, the fruit is so commanding that oak nuance is nowhere to be seen. This apparent barrel invisibility is so clever because it allows the fruit the chance to revel in the spotlight, showing every inch of its undoubted quality.

If this is what they can do with their very first vintage, I can see I will have to dig deep in my score pouch in search of a perfect number before too long!