2024 Garagiste Merricks Chardonnay, Mornington Peninsula

Now this has all the right moves, well flavour anyway. Meyer lemon and grapefruit and flinty sulphides. Cedary, spicy oak adds flavour not weight while creamy, luscious lees expand across the palate, adding a moreish note. Then superfine acidity comes in to steal the show. Such a good drink.

96 points Special Value Jane Faulkner winecompanion.com.au

The Merricks Chardonnay, from 28-year-old vines on soils of grey loams and red ferrosols on south- and southeast-facing slopes, was harvested and sorted by hand before being pressed as bunches. Fermentation was spontaneous with high levels of solids in 500-litre François Frères puncheons. A small portion went through natural malolactic fermentation, and the wine rested in large-format barrels (15% new) on full gross lees for 10 months before bottling. Barney seeks long, slow lees interaction, choosing extended, gentle contact over stirring, a process writ large in the supple, integrated texture of his recent releases.

This is a home run: pithy, punchy and pure with serious revs under the bonnet. Expect stone fruits, juicy citrus and well-pitched richness allied to deliciously chewy texture, spine-tingling acidity and big, fleshy presence. As always, a Chardonnay of pedigree, class and substance, and a high-water mark for Garagiste’s Chardonnay.

Garagiste Merricks Chardonnay from the Mornington Peninsula is a sleek and finely etched cool-climate Chardonnay that captures the maritime elegance of its coastal origin. Sourced from the Merricks subregion, one of the Peninsula’s most prized zones for Chardonnay, this wine is a focused, modern expression with depth, minerality and restraint.

Winemaker Barnaby Flanders brings a light touch to the winemaking, allowing the vineyard to speak. Fruit is handpicked, whole bunch pressed and fermented wild in French oak, with a portion of new barrels adding subtle structure and texture rather than overt oak character. Extended lees contact and minimal intervention result in a wine of purity and quiet power.

On the nose, it opens with white peach, lemon pith, wet stone and a whisper of struck match. The palate is taut and refined, showing grapefruit, nectarine, cashew and a saline line of acidity that gives drive and length. There’s finesse and shape here, with a nod to top-tier Chablis but firmly rooted in Mornington terroir.

Perfect with grilled scallops, lemon thyme roast chicken, fresh crab or a simple asparagus risotto. It will age gracefully over the next five to seven years.