2021 Savaterre Chardonnay

Other Reviews....
This 2021 Chardonnay won't be released until March 2023 (consider this your prerelease look). The fruit is a field blend of clones in the vineyard (8,000 vines per hectare, planted in 1996) and is handpicked, whole-bunch pressed and fermented with wild yeast, then the wine matures in French oak for 18 months. The wine is frisky (of course, at this early stage) and shows its oak at this stage, but it is already flowing in a cascade of almond meal, crushed nuts, briny acidity and salted peach. Through the finish, the phenolics tighten up and pull the fruit into line, dragging it out to a long finish. It is lovely, complex and tense and will soften in time. Drink 2023 - 2037
95 Points
Erin Larkin - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate