2023 Taylors St Andrews Chardonnay, Clare Valley

Soft and supple, creamy, medium-weight white wine of good character and charisma. Peachy, lemon blossom notes, nougat, vanilla cream, sweet spice and touches of cinnamon toast on hand. Even and generous scents and flavours, well balanced, a touch buttery and honeyed, too, leaning into chardonnay's more generous side. In all this, very well done and super pleasing.

94 points Mike Bennie winecompanion.com.au

Taylors St Andrews Chardonnay from the Clare Valley is a beautifully structured and luxurious white that showcases the power and elegance of this historic Australian estate. The St Andrews range represents the pinnacle of Taylors’ winemaking, sourced from the family’s best vineyard blocks in Auburn, where the cool evenings and limestone-rich soils create fruit of exceptional purity and balance.

The grapes are hand harvested in the early morning to preserve freshness, whole-bunch pressed, and fermented in French oak barriques, a portion new, with regular lees stirring to build texture and complexity. The result is a wine of depth and poise that combines classic Chardonnay richness with refined cool-climate precision.

In the glass it shows pale gold with hints of green. The aroma is vibrant and layered, offering white peach, melon, and citrus zest with subtle notes of hazelnut, flint, and creamy vanilla. The palate is full and silky yet finely balanced, revealing stone fruit and lemon curd framed by crisp acidity and integrated oak. There’s both weight and restraint, leading to a long, elegant, and mineral finish.

It pairs beautifully with roast chicken, seared scallops, lobster, or mushroom risotto, and it has the structure to age gracefully for a decade or more, gaining complexity and nuttiness with time.