The 2022 Heytesbury Chardonnay is lighter, fresher and finer than I can ever remember the Heytesbury tasting on release. It stylistically made a name for itself in the mid 2000s for the high-solid ferments, flinty reduction and spice aplenty. These days, I feel the style has swung gently back toward the middle, presenting us with a wine that is infinitely composed, powerful, restrained and yet kaleidoscopic in its fruit profile. I am not a fan of bombastic "best ever" statements, but this may go down as one of the greatest Heytesburys I have had the pleasure of tasting on release, and that is a statement that pays respect to the 2010 and 2013 vintages. 13% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.
97 points, Erin Larkin, Wine Advocate (Jul 2024)
Still tightly wound. Give this time (days, not minutes) and it will start to reveal itself. Saline and umami savoury notes of preserved lemon and sea spray vie for attention with dried florals, saltbush, curry leaf, cumin and frankincense. A bit loud in its youth, but cellaring will transform into a wine of stunning nuance, wild complexity and great length. Organic.
97 points, Cassandra Charlick, Decanter (Jun 2024)
If one wine typifies the current state of Australian chardonnay (complex, superfine, detailed and majestic) as much as a wine of place, Heytesbury could possibly be it. There’s a lot of fruit power this vintage, yet still, a tightly coiled style in youth. A millefeuille of flavour – grapefruit, lemon salt, white nectarine and complex savoury nuances, the oak and lees folded into the wine. There’s an intriguing zinc character too, a little flinty and funky with mouth-watering acidity. Moreish and compelling all the way through. Mesmerising.
97 points, Jane Faulkner, Halliday Wine Companion (Aug 2024)
A complete package, the 2022 Chardonnay Heytesbury differs markedly from the Estate release from the same vintage with a tighter more composed shape and layered nuances. Crushed nuts, pear and flowerpress aromas are seamlessly intertwined with fine grained oak and smoky gunflint. An excellent upfront generosity of flavor takes a more savory refined line, punctuated by tangy acidity. Length is exceptional and this will build further in time.
96 points, Angus Hughson, Vinous (May 2024)
2022 was on the warm side and this bottling of one of Margaret River's top Chards offers less of the reductive struck match and roasted-nut aromas of past vintages. It instead displays pithy citrus and melon rind, oats and salty seashell aromas, with a slight metallic edge. Round and textured, but with lovely acidity throughout, the concentrated fruit, oak and malolactic influences are all in perfect harmony. This may not be the longest-lived Heytesbury, but it's a damn fine drop now.
96 points, Christina Pickard, Wine Enthusiast (Jul 2024)
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