Tolpuddle Vineyard Chardonnay 2019 (1500ml)

Trophy for Best White Wine - 2020 International Wine Challenge
James Suckling Top 100 Wines of the World 2020
James Suckling Top 100 Wines of Australia 2020
James Halliday Top 100 Wines of 2020

Martin Shaw and Michael Hill Smith MW (Shaw & Smith) purchased the vineyard in 2011 after a look-and-see jaunt to Tasmania when they became smitten by Tolpuddle's Coal Valley location and mature vines, planted only to pinot noir and chardonnay. They are fully committed to seeing Tolpuddle Vineyard recognised as one of Australia's great single vineyards. 

"A strikingly beautiful chardonnay with its flowery bouquet bearing witness to the sheer purity of the incredibly long palate, the full palette of chardonnay flavours on display. Nectarine, white peach and grapefruit zest are sewn together by an invisible silver thread of acidity."  James Halliday

In barely a decade, Tolpuddle has established itself as one of the country's top producers. It produces wines of blistering precision and finesse which have received rave critical acclaim. They are highly sought-after and are some of the finest examples of chardonnay and pinot noir that can be found anywhere on the Apple Isle.

"If ever a new winery was born with blue blood in its veins, Tolpuddle would have to be it."  James Halliday

"This wine is true to the Tolpuddle Vineyard Chardonnay style: fine  and precise with firm acidity, and a combination of lightness of texture and intensity of flavour. The 2019 vintage has succulence and power, with great purity, aromas of white flowers, and flavours of mandarin and white peach, with a dash of sea-spray. The grapes were all hand picked, whole bunch pressed, and fermented in French oak. The wine spent nine months in barrel with gentle stirring as required, then rested in tank on lees.

2019 Vintage: Mild conditions in spring and a dry September encouraged moderate shoot development through the early part of the growing season. Temperatures remained mild during the latter period of ripening, with very few extremes of heat or cold, resulting in fruit that ripened slowly with great concentration, power and natural acidity."  Tolpuddle

Expert reviews

"This has power and complexity and the right grade of reductive flair, overlaid on fresh yellow grapefruit and peach with flint and wet chalk, as well as attractive oak in the background. The palate has mouthwatering white-peach and lemon flavors with a deep draw of acidity that drives the finish in really deep, precise and fresh. Lip-smacking resolve here. Elegance, poise and whip-cracking freshness. Drink over the next six years. Screw cap."  Nick Stock, JamesSuckling.com – 98 points and Top 100 Wines of the World 2020 and Top 100 Wines of Australia 2020

"A strikingly beautiful chardonnay with its flowery bouquet bearing witness to the sheer purity of the incredibly long palate, the full palette of chardonnay flavours on display. Nectarine, white peach and grapefruit zest are sewn together by an invisible silver thread of acidity. Drink by 2033."  James Halliday, Halliday Wine Companion - 98 points and Top 100 Wines of 2020 and Special Value Wine  ★ 

"A very impressive and seamless Chardonnay that is all class from start to finish. It bursts from the glass with lemon meringue, peach skin and floral aromas that are tight, compact and incredibly focussed, all supported by flinty, spicy oak complexity. The palate is equally explosive - bright and vibrant fruit that is embryonic with crystal clear fruit purity and lifted by savoury smoky, flinty leesy complexity. There is classic creamy chardonnay texture wound up tight by a bolt of Tasmanian acidity to provide the most complete Tolpuddle Chardonnay yet. Immense length tops it off beautifully - a clear candidate for this year's top Chardonnay. Drink: 2020 – 2032."  Angus Hughson, Winepilot.com – 98 points

"In just a few years this wonderful wine has emerged as one of Australia's finest chardonnays. The vineyard is not far from Richmond in Tasmania, and while it's viticultural history is quite short it has links to the earliest years of European settlement in the region, having been worked originally by one of the Tolpuddle Martyrs who fled England in the early part of the nineteenth century. Owners Michael Hill Smith and Martin Show bought the place in 2011 with a clear intention to establish a great single vineyard. You could say: job done, but I suspect even greater things await. This is another belter. Minerally, flinty gun smoke and char merge into the pure and pristine fruit characters on the nose. Then the palate delivers with its deep concentration and highly sustained length. It is textured and strikes a great balance of fruit and oak, having spent nine months in barrel with gentle stirring before taking a short lazy rest on lees. This is a classy exceptional chardonnay sourced from the Coal River Valley. Drink: 2021-2030."  Ray Jordan, Wine Pilot - 98 points

"This has power and complexity and the right grade of reductive flair, overlaid on fresh yellow grapefruit and peach with flint and wet chalk, as well as attractive oak in the background. The palate has mouthwatering white-peach and lemon flavors with a deep draw of acidity that drives the finish in really deep, precise and fresh. Lip-smacking resolve here. Elegance, poise and whip-cracking freshness. Drink over the next six years. Screw cap."  James Suckling – 98 points

"This wine recently trumped all comers when it was judged the best chardonnay at the 2020 International Wine Challenge. It's a great chardonnay. The colour is light to medium-yellow, the bouquet fascinating, with smoky struck-flint and roasted hazelnut nuances, the sulfides having an almost electrical-fire overtone. It's tremendously intense on the tongue, refined and bright, penetrating and tensioned, with crisp, cleansing acidity ensuring a refreshing dry finish. The aftertaste is long and insistent with delicious grapefruit and lemon flavours. Drink: Now to 14 years."  Huon Hooke, The Real Review - 97 points 

"The filigree structure is a study in delicate balance between pure varietal character, site differentiation and winemaker vision. Lean and bony, its fruit is bound in a taut frame of citrus-tinged acidity, yet the finely drawn flavours show unusual intensity and persistence. Keep looking beyond the pastel sketch of white peach and lemon, and deep down there's struck flint, a hint of seasoned oak, a lick of wet granite – nothing overt, nothing that doesn't add to the sum of the parts."  David Sly, Decanter – 97 points

"The 2019 Chardonnay is the very image of Tasmanian Chardonnay—powerful fruit is wrapped around a glass core of acidity and shaped by flowing phenolics in the mouth. This is a muscular wine of pure form and has finely chiseled layers of stone fruit, brine and the beginnings of almond meal soaked in brine. There is also curry leaf, some mustard seed, freshly grated nutmeg and even some Greek yogurt. Drink: 2022-2036."  Erin Larkin, Wine Advocate - 97 points

"It presents as both powerful and fine. It's a slashing chardonnay with flint, white peach, meal, caramel and lemon curd flavours charming through. It's carrying quite a bit of oak but it's up to it and then some. It's another ripping release. Drink: 2023-2028+."  Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front – 95+ points

Awards

Trophy for Best White Wine - 2020 International Wine Challenge
James Suckling Top 100 Wines of the World 2020
James Suckling Top 100 Wines of Australia 2020
James Halliday Top 100 Wines of 2020
Special Value Wine – Halliday Wine Companion  ★ 

About the winery

Tolpuddle Vineyard was established in 1988 by Bill Casimaty, Gary Crittenden and Tony Jordan and it took its name from the Tolpuddle Martyrs: English convicts transported to Tasmania for forming an agricultural union. The leader of the Martyrs, George Loveless, served some of his sentence working on a property near Richmond, part of which is now Tolpuddle Vineyard. The vineyard is planted with mature Chardonnay and Pinot Noir vines, facing north-east, and sloping gently up from Back Tea Tree Road. The soil is light silica over sandstone and of moderate vigour, ensuring well-balanced vines producing grapes of great flavour and intensity. 

Martin Shaw and Michael Hill Smith MW (Shaw & Smith) purchased the vineyard in 2011 after a look-and-see jaunt to Tasmania when they became smitten by Tolpuddle's Coal Valley location and mature vines, planted only to pinot noir and chardonnay. They are fully committed to seeing Tolpuddle Vineyard recognised as one of Australia's great single vineyards. 

In barely a decade, Tolpuddle has established itself as one of the country's top producers. It produces wines of blistering precision and finesse which have received rave critical acclaim. They are highly sought-after and are some of the finest examples of chardonnay and pinot noir that can be found anywhere on the Apple Isle.