2025 Vasse Felix Chardonnay, Margaret River

These chardonnays from Vasse Felix over the last few years are really starting to hit their straps. They seem to be allowed to release more of the flavour intensity, and the result is a wine of immense appeal. At the same time, it retains that essential linear, crunchy acidity that is a feature of the style. This one has a lively, chalky, oyster-shell aroma with traces of cashew and brioche. So it's immediately complex. But then the flavour reveals more rich quince paste and stone fruit characters, once again balanced with keen, crisp acidity. Poised and balanced, and beautifully integrated. Drink to 2034.

95 points Ray Jordan WA Wine Review 2026

Vasse Felix was established by Margaret River pioneer Dr Thomas Brendan Cullity in 1967 and is the region’s founding wine estate, today guided by the Holmes à Court family. One of Australia's most awarded winemakers, Virginia Willcock, has led the wine program since 2006, almost as long as her counterpart in the vineyards, Chief Viticulturist Bart Molony.

This has been one of the defining Chardonnays of Margaret River since the 1970s, with fruit sourced from the original Wilyabrup blocks. The approach in the cellar is detailed and patient: whole bunch pressing, wild fermentation and extended lees contact, with oak integrated as a framework contributing savoury nuance instead of sweetness. The result is layered and designed to evolve: while impressive now with air, it will cellar confidently for years, gaining nutty and savoury complexity along the way.

We’ll add more notes on the fresh 2025 vintage as the wine starts revealing more of its personality.