The third year of a ‘la nina’ weather pattern brought high rainfall and lower temperatures throughout the 2022 spring. Thankfully the rare, deep, red-ferrosol soils on which the Delamere vineyard is planted provide ex cellent drainage, and we were able to get our equipment onto the vineyard between showers to give the growing vines all the attention they required.
Pale straw. White peach, grapefruit and nectarine with soft spice, struck flint, white flowers, almond meal, nougat, lemon curd, crushed stone and oatmeal. A little more concentration than the 2022 release but man it's all tension and release; initially tenses like a spring before releasing with just a squeak of phenolic texture and racing long, true and stony pure to its savoury endpoint. I recall James telling me that good chardonnay is all about drive – ticking all the boxes here. - 96 points, Dave Brookes
