2025 Patrick Sullivan Willow Lake Chardonnay, Yarra Valley

The 2025 Willow Lake Chardonnay is one part of this 2025 release—a year that has produced a tranche of consistently attractive and intriguing Chardonnays. It seemed that 2024 offered more high points but not the consistency between cuvées, as this year has. Still, Patrick Sullivan has rapidly clawed up into some of my favorite Chardonnays in this country, and with so many standout wines nationally to take into account, this is as big a compliment as I can fathom. So here, the wine is linear and focused, precise and nutty, but this latter attribute only reveals itself through the finish. The wine is sleek and composed, chalky and exciting. Drink to 2036.

95 points Erin Larkin for The Wine Advocate, April 2026

A new addition from a site several leading producers access, and now Patrick Sullivan. It makes sense. It’s a mid-gold hue and bright, smelling of a pastry shop in the early morning, all croissants and cinnamon rolls, oatmeal and ultimately a savoury drink. The palate unfurls, flavours build, yet there’s an intensity, a tightness to this. Like its other Yarra Valley sibling, Woori Yallock, this also needs more time to settle. Drink to 2036.

93 points Jane Faulkner for Halliday Wine Companion, April 2026

Medium yellow with a brightness, and fresh cashew nut, bread crust and malt aromas, undercurrents of dried fruits, and a trace of smoked charcuterie. The palate is intense and taut, with a lightness that suggests it will reward more time, while the finish is medium-long and linear. Savoury more than fruity and will repay a bit of patience. Drink to 2040.

93 points Huon Hooke for The Real Review, March 2026

The fruit for this wine came from the Willow Lake Vineyard in Gladysdale. It is one of the older sites in the Upper Yarra area, with the 1979 to 1982 planted vines standing in basalt at an elevation of 300 metres. The sloping ground has a northerly aspect, and the surrounding forest help create a microclimate that contributes to the supple structure and rich aromatics characteristic of the area. Viticulturist Tim Wray has been at Willow Lake since 1996 and focuses on ecosystem balance to produce strong and healthy vines for high-quality grapes.

The fruit was handpicked into 15kg basket, whole bunch crushed and drained to stainless steel for settling. Fermentation took place in oak barriques of which 30% were new, with the wine staying in the barrels for a total of eleven months during which it was lees stirred weekly post-primary fermentation until it had gone through full malolactic conversion.

Enjoyable on release, this should look splendid with a bit more time in the bottle. Decant if opening now to allow plenty of air and enjoy with seared Murray Cod served with brown butter and shiro miso enhanced dashi, or crispy roasted pork belly and a fennel bake.

About this producer

Patrick Sullivan is a Gippsland-based Chardonnay-specialist whose focus is on single vineyard expressions of volcanic sites within the local Baw Baw Shire. Fruit is also bought from exceptional growers in Yarra Valley, Henty and the Limestone Coast.

Patrick lives with his wife Megan and their children on Tumblestone Farm in Ellinbank. The property houses his winery and will also provide his currently negociant-modelled business with estate grown fruit in the long term.