2023 Marchand & Burch Mount Barker Chardonnay

An impressive offering with no shortage of flavour yet everything composed and in its place. So the fruit, the spice, the oak and lees are in harmony, balanced and nothing dominating. The palate is very even, fine and long, all thanks to beautiful, refreshing acidity leading this to a long finish.

…it’s a thrill to see the power and potential of the Mount Barrow site on display. Whole bunch fruit is pressed into 40% new French oak for ten months and undergoes partial malolactic. There’s an abundance of top-notch oak on the nose, brimming with frankincense, oriental florals, lightly toasted vanilla bean and cedar spice. Glossy fruit unfurls from its velvet lined comforter, with preserved lemon, pith, crushed pip and a flinty minerality followed by almond meal tones. Mouth-filling volume awaits, with the pillowy softness of fruit but a core of tightly knit tension and bright, pin-pricked acidity. Lees work offers a fine and mealy texture, with delicate notes of curd and savoury cheesecloth. There’s some serious structure to this wine, yet the concentration of fruit fills the cheekbones with plumpness and approachability. The length of fruit and phenolics is impressive, and keeps on giving well after the wine has been sipped and swallowed (or spat). An exciting new benchmark for the Mount Barrow vineyard and a new premium chardonnay on the Great Southern compass, with the potential for iconic status in years ahead. A well-thought-out wine; the epitome of elegance and discrete power.

Compelling and vibrant from the first whiff. Whether it’s the specific chardonnay clones that were planted here, the cool elevated Mount Barrow vineyard or the approach to winemaking, this certainly has a French sensibility, yet it’s bit without a core of WA oomph! Its dry sinewy and smooth textures are complemented with opulent bakery aromas – blanched almonds, sourdough and vanilla pod, with zesty bright fruit flavours of fresh loquat and lemon barley. Gorgeous drinking now but will cellar well. I suspect we will be talking more about this site for years to come.

A reductive, flinty, strike-match-like opening on the nose. Then, crunchy nectarines, salted crusted pink grapefruit, fresh cream, good-quality melted butter, vanilla pods, toasted hazelnuts, and almonds. The palate is chiselled, and after the saltiness and reduction, sweet spices, lees characters, and citrus and green fruit flavours unfurl, leaving a visible trace like the foam left by an ocean wave.