2023 Xanadu Stevens Road Chardonnay, Margaret River

Stevens Road shines this vintage and, while it will continue to garner more complexity, today it sets up an excellent foundation of flavour, acidity and drive. Lime and lemon with pink grapefruit, a layer of clotted cream and ginger, oak way in the background, long and pure with the fine acidity, albeit a little nervy and twitchy. Flavours linger; it’s moreish with a stony, quartz-like precision.

97 points Special Value Jane Faulkner winecompanion.com.au

Pale Straw. The bouquet of this elegant Chardonnay displays delicate white fleshed stone fruits, citrus and floral characters with underlying hints of sea spray and wet stone adding complexity. The sophisticated palate is medium bodied, offering white peach and lemon/lime flavours with a wonderful saline tang. A crystalline, mineral structure combines with bracing acidity focussing the wine to a crisp, lingering finish.

A modern, refined style of Chardonnay, displaying classic Margaret River hallmarks. The 2022 Stevens Road Chardonnay is a wine which, while drinking well in its youth will certainly reward with careful cellaring, developing further complexity from bottle maturation.

Xanadu Stevens Road Chardonnay is one of the great single site expressions of Margaret River Chardonnay, a wine that quietly shows just how compelling the region can be when site and restraint are allowed to lead the conversation. Stevens Road sits in the heart of Margaret River on classic gravelly loam soils over clay, offering excellent drainage while retaining enough moisture to carry vines through the long, dry summers. Proximity to the Indian and Southern Oceans brings cooling afternoon sea breezes, stretching the growing season and locking in natural acidity. This combination is exactly what gives the wine its poise, length and unmistakable coastal energy.

Xanadu has been part of Margaret River’s story since 1977, making it one of the region’s early pioneers. Today the wines are shaped by winemaker Glenn Goodall, whose experience spans Burgundy, California and Western Australia. His philosophy with Chardonnay is all about transparency. Wild fermentation, careful lees work and restrained use of high quality French oak are employed not to add flavour but to frame the vineyard. Stevens Road is treated as a wine of place rather than a stylistic exercise, and it shows.

The wine opens with impressive clarity and detail. White peach, nectarine and citrus oil sit at the core, layered with subtle struck match, cashew and a whisper of nougat. Oak is beautifully integrated, giving texture and gentle savoury complexity without ever crowding the fruit. The palate is finely tuned, combining creamy mid palate weight with a firm line of acidity that drives through the finish. There is a saline edge that speaks clearly of Margaret River, giving the wine freshness, length and quiet authority.

This is Chardonnay that really comes alive at the table. It is superb with roast chicken, grilled lobster, scallops, crayfish or richer vegetable dishes like roasted cauliflower or pumpkin. The balance between fruit, acidity and texture makes it extremely food friendly rather than overtly showy. While it is already drinking beautifully, Stevens Road Chardonnay is built to age. Over eight to twelve years it will develop more savoury, nutty complexity and layered depth, while retaining its structural spine and sense of place.

Xanadu Stevens Road Chardonnay is a confident, refined wine that captures the best of modern Margaret River Chardonnay. It is thoughtful rather than loud, detailed rather than broad, and a genuine reference point for single vineyard Chardonnay in Australia.