Cloudburst Chardonnay 2019

An incredible Chardonnay from Margaret River with layers of complexity and nuance. So many aromatic touches on the nose, salty lemon notes alongside apricot, peach and lime zest with buttery almond edges. These follow through on the palate with a satisfying creamy texture. Smooth and structured, weighty but not overpowering and with a vein of freshness and wet stone minerality that gives it such life and energy. Hard not to love this. A total production of 2,288 bottles produced in 2018 by owner-winemaker Will Berliner. Grapes are hand sorted and whole-bunch pressed directly into barrel. An atypically cool spring and summer with unprecedented frost meant low yields and a harvest that was two weeks later than unusual. Despite the challenges this is a powerful and precise wine that is great to drink now and will age. (Drink between 2021-2035)

A whole different level of Chardonnay, so much complexity and nuance. The aromatics on this are full and rich yet the texture is precise and pointed. Creamy texture, great length, generous and seductive apricot pit, lemongrass and slate-scraping citrus, inching forward a slow shuffle at a time. Wet stone minerality, acidity that is well judged - high enough to build freshness though the palate, but not over the top, despite this being a cooler growing season and a harvest that was two weeks later than average. Juicy on the finish, and a wine that it ishard to put down. Joyful Chardonnay. Number 762 of 2,288 bottles, 3.71ph, wild yeast fermentation. Biodynamic farming across the entire estate, but no certification. Tasted twice.