2024 Tolpuddle Vineyard Chardonnay

Tolpuddle Vineyard was established in 1988 in Tasmania's Coal River Valley, between Hobart and Richmond. When Martin Shaw and Michael Hill Smith MW purchased the site in 2011, they recognised its potential to produce exceptional cool-climate Chardonnay and Pinot Noir and set about realising it. Their vision has since been fulfilled, with Tolpuddle now firmly regarded as one of Australia's great single-vineyard estates.

The Coal River Valley sits at the limits of viable viticulture, its long, cool growing season ideally suited to producing wines of precision and fine structure. Unlike many other cool regions, rainfall here is low, allowing the fruit to ripen slowly through autumn with minimal disease pressure. The vineyard's gentle north-east aspect and silica-rich soils of moderate vigour promote balance in the vines and produce fruit of notable concentration and character.

Tolpuddle's reputation has grown steadily over the past decade, and today its wines are among the most sought after in Australia. Production remains focused solely on the estate's two varieties, with a commitment to vineyard expression above all else.

After a dry winter, the 2024 season brought well-timed spring and summer rainfall followed by mild, settled conditions through to harvest. The even ripening period and moderate yields have produced wines that reflect the site's hallmark purity and balance, an elegant and complete expression of this remarkable vineyard.

Other Reviews....
Wow. This sits on the edge of reduction, expressing both power and minerality with aromas of struck match, lemon confit, crushed stones, sweet spices, grapefruit and apple blossoms. The palate is highly strung with striking acidity, balanced by a generous, rounded yet restrained mouthfeel. You could easily be in one of the great Climats of Burgundy. Truly excellent from one of Australia’s most celebrated producers. Drink or hold.
98 points
JamesSuckling.com

Ooh-boy the Tolpuddle Chardonnay is in a good place. I guess you could call this vintage a 'classic'. A little more restraint and line than the '23; a little more filigree and nuance, those flinty/struck-match tones a little further back in the mix and woven through the wine in an intricate pattern. White peach, lemon, grapefruit and nectarine fruits are high fidelity and beautifully poised, suffused with soft spice, clover and grapefruit blossom, crushed stone, cinnamon, a murmur of vanillin oak and spiced poached pear, grilled hazelnuts, crème fraîche and a whisper of onshore breeze. Everything is in sharp relief, with the purest of fruit. It's all detail and tension, with a textural glaze of grapefruit pith and a sapid, mineral line that builds like a crescendo before releasing, finishing long and true. It's a stunner. Drink 2025-2040.
98 points
Dave Brookes - James Halliday's Australian Wine Companion