2021 Evans & Tate Redbrook Reserve Chardonnay, Margaret River

Trophy Best Western Australian Chardonnay at Melbourne Royal Wine Awards 2023

Gold at Melbourne Royal Wine Awards 2023

Gold at Wine Show of Western Austrlia 2024

Gold at Sydney Royal Wine Show 2024

A wine that ebbs and flows; one minute, lots of flavour, all citrus, spice and stone fruit, then the next, pared back, revealing a tight acid backbone and a slip of creamy lees. Then again, flinty, fine, and next, a shot of oak, superbly integrated. Everything comes together; the result is a rather stunning chardonnay. Drink 2024 to 2031.

96 points Jane Faulkner for Halliday Wine Companion Special Value, August 2024

Pale lemon hue. Apple, lime pith and struck flint aromatics. Tight and bright, apple fruit runs the core with hints of saline minerals and crunchy acidity. Good length and precision right to the long finish. A light and focused style that will build in the cellar. Drink 2024 to 2033.

92 points Stuart Knox for The Real Review, January 2024

The Evans & Tate Redbrook vineyard at Wilyabrup was established in the early 1970s, and was among the first plantings in what would become Margaret River's most celebrated sub-region. Under the stewardship of the Fogarty Wine Group, with senior winemaker Matt Byrne and winemaker Feleasha Prendergast, the Redbrook range has reached the best form of its history.

The Reserve is the pinnacle of the Redbrook offer, the finest barrel selection from the estate's oldest vines, made only when the vintage warrants the distinction. Fruit is hand-picked at dawn into small tubs, chilled immediately, and whole bunch airbag pressed for the gentlest possible extraction. The juice goes directly to 100% French oak puncheons for wild fermentation on solids, with monthly lees stirring over 7 to 10 months before minimal handling and bottling.

The 2021 growing season was cool, wet and prolonged. A late harvest followed a season without heat events, resulting in naturally high acidity and exceptional aromatic intensity. The conditions produced Chardonnay of a delicacy and precision that warmer years cannot match, while retaining the depth and fruit weight the Redbrook site consistently delivers.

Pale gold with a fresh green rim, the nose is detailed and refined, with white peach, nectarine and melon with savoury hazelnut and toasted oak complexity from the wild ferment. The palate is seamless and balanced, the fruit sweet and persistent, the texture fine and layered with lingering freshness.

This would be a fine wine with classic Chardonnay partners luike grilled crustaceans or fish in flavousome broths and sauces.