Rowe Wines Karrindale Chardonnay 2024

This is an impressive debut chardonnay from Richard Rowe, one of the industry's most experienced winemakers, who has decided to do his own thing after many years in the industry. This wine captures the cool southern influence of the Karridale region, producing a wine of elegance and youthful vibrancy. There's a lovely mix of lime, pear, grapefruit, and a little lifted spice on the nose. And then you get into the palate, which is finely controlled and quite linear, with a saline minerality and a mix of fresh brioche, a little quince, and that lime-infused roasted cashew combination.

The fruit for this wine is sourced from the Wylco Vineyard, located in the cooler Karridale subregion of Margaret River, 20 kilometres south of the township. Handpicked and barrel-fermented, it’s aged for nine months in French oak with 30% of it new. This is a finespun Chardonnay, defined by lovely detail, precision, and length. What’s more, it expresses the cool south of the region with admirable transparency. It opens demurely, with a delicate lift of fine cedar giving way to sweet Meyer lemon, grapefruit pith, and nougat. A good swirl of the glass unlocks dried pear, sea salt, and a flicker of flint beneath. There’s lovely finesse as the wine unfurls in the glass. The palate is more sapid and driven than the nose, though it mirrors it, with a burst of pithy grapefruit, pear, and Meyer lemon sitting above fine cedar and sea salt, all carried by ample texture. A glimmer of nougat lingers through the finish, as preserved lemon phenolics and saline acidity curl around the fruit and draw it to a long, elegant close.