Vasse Felix Heytesbury Chardonnay 2021 (750ML)

98 JS / 96+ WA / 95 WE / 17++ JR

A dense and structured white with white peaches, honeysuckle, lemon tree, and hints lime. Full-bodied with a gorgeous center palate and intense and lively finish. So wild and energetic. Wonderful depth and focus. Drink or hold. Can age beautifully. Think where it will be. Screw cap.—James Suckling

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. 13% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.—Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate

This is an opulent yet poised and powerful vintage of Vasse's top Chardy. Smokey, flinty, grilled nut-and-buttered toast aromas dominate at first pour. They're quickly followed by melon and stone fruit, which gain prominence with time in glass. Delicate floral and mineral nuance also shine with aeration. The mouthfeel is round and rich but sliced by a laser beam of acidity. A long, saline and toast finish lingers. Approachable now with the ability to age for 8-10 years. — Christina Pickard, Wine Enthusiast

Beautifully and discreetly spiced by the oak with – at the moment – very little struck-match sulphidic character, though it shows a little more with aeration. Marked mineral stone-dust character even with all this youthful fruit. Extremely tight, not lean, but textured, with a chalky feel. Crisp, bone dry, the citrus a little sweet-sour on the finish for now but already showing that lovely creamy texture, just. As it warms and opens in the glass, and going back to this after the older vintages in the line-up, the fruit is really intense, more tropical but still shot through with lime. It would be a great shame to drink this too young.-Julia Harding MW, JancisRobinson