Holm Oak The Wizard Chardonnay 2024

"A cracking Chardonnay. This is a ten year proposition. Love it."  Ken Gargett
"All detail and crackling tension. A great release."  Dave Brookes
"It’s totally mesmerizing and a real standout!"  Shanteh Wale
"A most impressive young Chardonnay, generous and deeply complex."  Ray Jordan
"The balance and texture are seamless. Lovely wine indeed."  Huon Hooke

Holm Oak is located just north of Launceston, in Tasmania's Tamar Valley. Holm Oak is a labour of love for winemaker Bec Duffy and her viticulturist husband Tim Duffy, Since 2007 they have followed their dream of crafting delicious expressions of cool-climate Tasmanian wines. Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Riesling are outstanding. The Wizard Chardonnay, their flaghip chardonnay, is a blend of the best barrels of Chardonnay from the vintage.

"Bec Duffy loves Chardonnay and it shows, from the way the fruit is cradled and gently plucked at the exact ideal moment to the caress of very expensive oak that it matures in. Peach melba, lemonade fruit and gingerbread spice. This is edible from start to finish. Creamy thanks to its 50% Malo but with electric energy of acidity. There are plenty of reductive, smokey Chardonnays out there but this turns you head in the pedigree and total class act of the fruit itself. It’s princess Kate incarnate and it’s totally mesmerizing and full of fortitude and charm. This is a celebration of the Tamar Valley and a real standout!"  Shanteh Wale

"The Wizard is a rich melange of ripe stone fruit, fine tannins, refreshing acidity and beguiling complexity. In the glass it is clear, bright and straw in colour. Initially it has aromas of peach, nectarine and a bit of toasty vanilla. As it opens up it also reveals melon, toasted nuts, sweet spice and then a hint of savoury and caramel notes. The stone fruit follow through to the palate, but there is also some citrus and a suggestion of pineapple along with a complex mix of lees contact and malolactic characters displaying as nutty, creamy and savoury flavours. All this is presented on a bed of initially soft and slippery tannins that build to a satin, fresh, zippy and lingering finish, which will round out with age. 

The fruit for this wine was gently pressed and then transferred to barrel for full wild fermentation. 50% of the wine underwent malolactic fermentation and 50% was matured in new French oak, with the remainder in one year old oak. A mix of coopers was used to ensure great complexity with integrated oak characters. The wine was matured in oak for 10 months prior to blending and bottling."  Holm Oak

Expert reviews

"Bec Duffy loves Chardonnay and it shows, from the way the fruit is cradled and gently plucked at the exact ideal moment to the caress of very expensive oak that it matures in. Peach melba, lemonade fruit and gingerbread spice. This is edible from start to finish. Creamy thanks to its 50% Malo but with electric energy of acidity. There are plenty of reductive, smokey Chardonnays out there but this turns you head in the pedigree and total class act of the fruit itself. It’s princess Kate incarnate and it’s totally mesmerizing and full of fortitude and charm. This is a celebration of the Tamar Valley and a real standout! Drink with a fillet of coral trout in ginger and scallion sauce. Drink now or cellar for another 8-10 years. Drink: 2025-2035."  Shanteh Wale, Wine Pilot - 96 points

"This is a generous and deeply complex Chardonnay from a slightly warmer vintage in Tasmania. It was wild fermented in oak and then about 50% went through malolactic fermentation. About half was matured in new French oak, while the rest was in one-year-old oak. This has had some oak, yet the intensity of the fruit has been perfectly complemented and certainly not overcome. Aromas of cashew, melon, and stone fruit. On the palate, there’s a creamy, slightly savoury character that extends with great precision through to a long finish. It is a most impressive young Chardonnay. Drink: 2025-2035."  Ray Jordan, Wine Pilot - 95 points

"Tamar Valley chardonnay, 50% mlf and 50% new oak. I'm liking the '24 vintage wines and this is a cracker. All detail and crackling tension with defined crunchy green apple, grapefruit and lemon with hints of spice, grilled nuts, vanillin oak, freshly baked pastries, crushed stone, white flowers and a flicker of struck flint. There's a lovely crisp energy to this wine. All flavours are nicely delineated and that sizzling mineral driveline shows the merest ache of umami, with the flavours slowly retreating. A great release. Drink by 2032."  Dave Brookes, Halliday Wine Companion - 95 points

"2024 was an excellent vintage in Tasmania, certainly warmer than the preceding year. The juice underwent a wild fermentation in barrel, before half underwent malolactic fermentation. Maturation was in French oak, 50% of it new, for ten months. Gleaming pale lemon, the nose exhibits some spicy oak notes, but integration is proceeding well. Expect the wine to look even better in two to three years. We have notes of cashews, nutmeg, cinnamon, peaches, pears and glacéd lemon. Good concentration throughout, the wine is well balanced with impressive intensity and serious length. Suffice to say, that the length and the way the wine maintains its intensity over the journey is one of the highlights of what is a cracking Chardonnay. This is a ten year proposition. Love it. Drink: 2025-2035."  Ken Gargett, Wine Pilot - 95 points

"Bright, light yellow colour with an intense aroma of lemon acid drops. A whiff of toasty cashew and pencil-wood overlying it. The palate is delicate, refined and tense, with bright lively flavour, the fruit doing most of the talking, the balance and texture are seamless. Good concentration of fruit. Lovely wine indeed, with more to show us given the time. Drink: 2026-2037."  Huon Hooke, The Real Review - 95 points

About the winery

Holm Oak is located just north of Launceston, in Tasmania's Tamar Valley. Holm Oak is a labour of love for winemaker Bec Duffy and her husband Tim Duffy, viticulturalist. Since 2007 they have followed their dream of crafting delicious expressions of cool-climate Tasmanian wines.

Bec Duffy has over 20 years winemaking experience in Australia and the US, while Tim Duffy, a third-generation grape grower and an agronomist with extensive viticultural experience, manages the vineyard, Their complementary skills drive their vision to produce delicious wines that reflect their home, Tasmania's pristine Tamar Valley, and their own personalities – honest, down to earth, genuine and authentic. 

Grape vines were planted in the rich and fertile land in 1983, making Holm Oak one of the older vineyards in Tasmania. Using the original Pinot Noir and Cabernet plantings, they now also cultivate Arneis, Chardonnay, Merlot, Pinot Gris, Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc. In total, Holm Oak has 12 hectares under vine.

Holm Oak is a full family affair overseen by general manager Pinot 'd' Pig. Like any good manager, Pinot the Pig wanders around keeping a close eye on the daily operations in the vineyards and winery. Pinot was supposed to be a miniature pig, however has grown to be a full-size team member, with a larger than life personality, and a keen eye (and nose) for detail. Every good manager however, has a weakness – if fed a couple of fresh apples, the worries of General Management fade away and Pinot is inclined to sleep on the job!

"Holm Oak in Tasmania's Tamar Valley gained its name from a planting of oak trees in the 1930s, intended to provide oak for tennis racquets. It came to nothing, and 50 years later 2ha of cabernet sauvignon and 0.4ha of pinot noir were planted.

In 2004 Ian and Robyn Wilson bought the property with a succession plan in place, their daughter Rebecca (Bec) already an experienced winemaker having worked on the mainland and in California. She arrived at Holm Oak in 2006, and the onsite winery was completed just in time for the 2007 vintage.

In the same year Bec's partner, agronomist Tim Duffy, arrived and they set about expanding the vineyard from 6a to 15ha; in pride of place is 7ha of pinot noir, with MV6 clone leading the census, plus D5V12, 114, 115, 777, D4V2 and 521. In 1991, 1ha of riesling had been planted; the balance now includes pinot gris (2ha), chardonnay (1.5ha) and arneis (0.3ha), with smaller plantings making up the remainder.

Prior to the completion of the winery, the wines had been competently contract-made. It's a very different story today, with shoot thinning, leaf plucking (on the western side) and removal of shoulder bunches of pinot noir (if needed). The partnership between winemaker and viticulturist has had multiple synergies, as success has followed success. Then there's the Southern Ocean, a vast air conditioner buffering the heat spikes that are part of summer in the southeastern corner of the mainland.

Sparkling wine used 37% of the total crush, which left pinot noir with 28%, sauvignon blanc, chardonnay and pinot gris in a three-way share of 8% each, riesling the remainder. One simple summary is sparkling, red and white wine, each with a third share. And Tamar Valley is the place to be, with almost 40% of the 2022 crush." James Halliday