2025 Bicknell FC Applecross Chardonnay

Rich and beautifully balanced texturally, with the perfect amount of freshness across the long, elegant finish.

Brilliant pale straw colour with green flecked edges and a watery hue. Refined and elevated aromatics of white peach, nectarine and delicate dried honey are intermeshed with spicy nougat, subtle cashew and a faint whiff of gun flint. Rich and gently creamy in its texture, the mid weighted palate is finely detailed with white peach, nectarine and cashew flavours which meld into a subtle dried honey, biscuity nougat, citrus and flint back drop. Beautifully balanced texturally, it carries the perfect amount of freshness across the long, elegant finish.
Drink over the next 5-6 years.
Alc. 13.5%

Other Reviews…..
Barrel fermented and matured in older French puncheons. Bright green gold. Pure fruited and complex, with aromas of white nectarine and apple blossom, together with a gentle waft of sea spray. There's a gentle fleshiness on the palate matched by the wine's precise, perfectly integrated acidity. Beautifully balanced from beginning to end; a seamless wine to drink now and over the next four to six years. Drink by 2032.
96+ points
Philip Rich - James Halliday’s Australian Wine Companion

We know that winemaker David Bicknell was taken too soon from his position at Oakridge, one of the more baffling moves in corporate chess we’ve seen in the wine game – the DNA of Oakridge lies in that meaty noggin’ of his, and of course, his co-workers know some of the Colonel’s secret recipe, but a gold watch and a red carpet departure would have been apt on his own terms. Nonetheless, Bicknell FC, the side project no longer, is here to sustain. And great to see a little extra oomph behind the brand with this shift in things.
Here’s a beautiful wine. It sits shy of medium weight, the flint and steel of Bicknell Chardonnay™ with a distinct, ticklish, briny minerality woven in threads through reserved green apple juice, just-ripe nectarine and a dash of vanilla cream lending the additional weight. Seamless, flowing, cooling, just enough sternness. It’s an architectural, serious chardonnay but with a sense of reserve, primness, preened grace. And delicious and refreshing. We’re good here. Drink 2026-2034+
96 points
Mike Bennie – The Wine Front