McHenry Hohnen Hazel's Vineyard Chardonnay 2022

Like a millefeuille, as in the French pastry, this has layers to it. Creamy in the middle, crisp pastry-like leesy flavours on the outside and plenty of grapefruit and spiced up stone fruit to satisfy. There’s some sweet-ish oak, a little spicy, too, and the final outcome is a moreish drink with the saline-like acidity keeping everything in place.

• Drinking Window: 2024 - 2032
• Reviewer Name: Jane Faulkner

The 2022 Hazel's Vineyard Chardonnay leads with creamy crushed and salted nuts, yellow peach and stewed apples. In the mouth, the wine is all about curry leaves and a hint of marzipan, candied almonds and pastry. There is also a hint of underripe pear. In some ways, it is archetypal Margaret River Chardonnay: powerful and yet tightly coiled, with firm acidity, populated by rich fruit and long. The acidity that sits on the back of the palate is fierce, and it serves to rip through the fruit and linger through the finish. I'd say that this wine will be better in a few years, which does make me sound like a broken record. But they really do blossom five years after harvest—so, circa 2027. For now, many will drink and love this, but it will be better! 13% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

• Drinking Window: 2025 - 2036
• Reviewer Name: Erin Larkin